Hidden Love
by matildacullen
Summary: Bella Swan have a secret crush on Edward Cullen - Edward Cullen have a secret crush on Bella Swan. Just too bad they are just that; secret. Friendship, love, secrets, high school, jealously - the party can start! ExB
1. Hidden

**_This was just something I wrote before when I was bored… But maybe, if you guys like it, I can continue… It's actually a fun, good story! Give it a try…_ **

CHAP 1 'Hidden'

"Bella, can we go home now?"

"No, he'll be here any minute now…!"

"Do you realize how ridiculous we must look when we stand here in the bushes?"

"You're already ridiculous."

"No, _you _are!"

I hushed my best friend Alice Brandon and ignored her ugly grimace. Any second now he would walk by.

My heart sang in my chest while I waited excitedly.

There - finally I could see his tall shadow – and also the huge shadow that belonged to his brother, Emmett Cullen. They seemed to just have left the school building.

Alice rolled her eyes when I sighed of satisfaction as my prince charming came closer and then passed us where we stood hidden in the bushes.

Edward Cullen couldn't, of course, see us where we stood which was exactly what I wanted – I could look at him, but he could not see me.

I watched as he brought one hand to his untidy, bronze-colored hair and ran his fingers through it, while he spoke to his brother. They were walking towards the parking lot. His unusual, green eyes sparkled in the sun.

"This is crazy." I heard Alice mutter, but I held up a hand to shut her up. Maybe I would be able to hear his angelic, velvet voice….I listened hard, leaning forward slightly…

"….and then she just ran out of the classroom. I had no chance to speak with her…again!" He sounded frustrated and I could see that his beautiful face was drawn into a frown.

"That sucks, man. Maybe tomorrow…" Emmett said and shrugged his huge shoulders. He looked like a serious weight lifter and was honestly very scary looking with his unnaturally big muscles. His hair was black and curly. I knew one of my friends, Rosalie Hale, had a thing for him.

The two brothers climbed into Edward's silver Volvo and started the engine. They disappeared quicker than I could blink.

"Are we done with all this craziness now?" Alice asked, clearly annoyed.

"Chill, Alice." I climbed out of the bushes and laughed when two small girls from our school jumped of surprise when they saw me and ran.

Alice came after me with a few leaves in her short cut, black hair. Her face was filled with fury and impatience.

"Bella, it's one thing to stare at him every class, look at him from your car and wait for him in the cafeteria so that you can eat at the same time – but hiding in the bushes when he walk to his car is just….weird!"

I shrugged and led the way towards my red truck. Alice danced after me.

"When are you just going to ask him out?"

"Are you kidding? He doesn't even know I exist, Alice….Do you want a ride home?"

We were at my car and I opened the passenger door in the back and threw in my purse.

"Yes ….Of course he does! I'm sure he likes you."

"What drugs are you on and can I have some?" I joked while we drove out of the parking lot.

"Bella-"Alice began patiently. "You've liked Edward since our first year! You've had classes together for ages and you spy on him and stare at him constantly! You should just talk to him at least."

I snickered and shook my head. I had never spoken to Edward Cullen in my life – and we'd had classes together for years - and I probably never would.

He was everything I wasn't – popular, good looking, rich… We didn't belong in the same worlds, I knew that. But that didn't stop me from staring at him…or thinking about him constantly.

The landscape disappeared behind us as we raced down the streets on our way to Alice's neighborhood. We had been friends since kindergarten and she still lived at the same place, so I found it easily. Back then my parents hadn't been divorced and we all lived together here in Forks.

Now, I only lived here with my father. Mom lived with her new husband in Jacksonville. They spoke on the phone sometimes…

Alice was still talking about Edward I noticed after a few seconds. I was use to blocking her small, light voice out. She used her small hands when she spoke. Alice really was the shortest and most pixie-like girl I had ever met. But very pretty with her ocean blue eyes and slim figure. Her teeth were perfectly white and straight.

"…and do you remember that time when you wore the same shirt as Jessica, so that he would notice…"

I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection of the window. My brown plain hair and chocolate brown eyes. My skin was unnaturally pale and smooth, as usual.

"…and Edward looked at her and…" Alice continued.

"Okay, okay! Just shut it for a second, okay?"

She pouted.

"Fine. But you really owe me for today, Bells. I won't forget hiding in the bushes for fifteen minutes any time soon."

I laughed.

"Okay…where do you want me to drop you off?"

"The store. Dad's working." Alice told me and nodded towards the sign with Mr Brandon's food-store's name on.

"Why?"

"If I help him every day after school he will let me go to Vegas next summer." she squealed.

Alice's family was rich, but that did not mean her father would give her anything she wanted by just pointing –sure, she owned pretty much every item a girl could ask for, but only because she earned them. Mr Brandon loved his daughter but she was not spoiled, she had to work for her money.

I parked outside the store, yawning – it had been a long week, but tomorrow it was finally Friday!

"See you later, alright?" I told Alice, who nodded, waved and stepped out of the car. She blew a kiss and then ran towards the store. They sold what my dad called 'things you don't need', but Alice's dad was nice. He and Alice ate dinner at our house sometimes. Her two older brothers, Brandon and Kevin, were almost never home and the mother was now married to someone else – just like mine.

When I began to drive home my thoughts quickly went to Edward again. His perfect muscles, not too big not too small, and his heartbreakingly beautiful smile that could melt any girl's heart.

I wanted to kiss him so bad and run my fingers through his hair…smell him and snuggle up against his perfect chest…

"Bella is that you?" Charlie, my dad, shouted when I entered our hall five minutes later.

I rolled my eyes and threw my purse at the floor and shrugged out of my jacket. Who else would it be that used my key?

"Yeah!" I answered anyway.

He sat, as usual when he wasn't at work, in his favorite chair in the living room, watching some stupid football game. He barely looked up when I peeked into the room to say hi.

"How was school?" he asked, distracted, with his eyes still on the screen.

"Good." I mumbled with a smile and thought about Edward. "What are you doing home so early?"

"Parker said that he could take over. He said I've been looking tired latelty. Bullshit, if you ask-"

"No, dad, it's not." I told him seriously.

Charlie was the head of police and took his job very seriously. He left early in the morning and usually got home late at night.

He shrugged.

"Will you make dinner soon? I'm getting kind of hungry."

"Sure, give me a minute."

I disappeared upstairs to leave my purse and check my e-mail. In my room I left a kiss on the photo of my dead grandmother as usual and then pushed the power button on my computer.

The walls around me were yellow and the only source of light came from the small window across the room.

We weren't rich me and Charlie, but we were doing okay….

I only owned a bed, a desk, a couple of shelf's with my books and the old computer I was not watching carefully for new messages.

There was an e-mail from Renee, my mom.

**_Bella, _**

**_How's Forks? Is Charlie treating you alright? I hope he's not making you do all the food!_**

**_I just wanted to let you know that me and Phil are traveling again and I don't know the next time I will be able to have access to a computer. We'll be gone for two weeks._**

**_Have a great two weeks! Reply this e-mail as soon as you can._**

**_I love you,_**

**_Mom_**

I sighed and clicked the 'reply' button. Phil was Renee's new husband and, compared to me and Charlie, all they ever did was travel.

But it made her happy, just like it did to be with Phil…

With that I mind I wrote, trying to sound as cheery as I managed:

**_Dear Mom, _**

**_I'm great, don't worry about me. _**

**_Have fun with Phil! _**

**_I'll talk to you in two weeks. _**

**_I love you._**

**_Bella_**

I sent the message and then hurried downstairs to make dinner.

When the food was almost done and I was cutting vegetables, the phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered, slightly annoyed at the interruption.

"Guess who?" A light male voice replied.

I giggled.

"Hi, Jasper."

"What's up in Bella's world?" he asked conversationally.

Jasper Hale had been my friend for only a couple of years, but he had almost immediately become a very close one.

When I spoke I thought about his blond hair and light blue eyes. He was truly very nice looking, but he wasn't really my type; though I had tried to fix him up with Alice for months.

"Not much. Cooking."

"Really?" Jasper said ironically. "Again?"

"Well, you have to do it every day – to get more food." I joked and pressed the phone between my ear and shoulder, so that I could continue my cutting of vegetables.

He laughed.

"Well, aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing?" he said after a few seconds, with feigned hurt.

"Sorry!" I laughed. "What are you doing, Jasper?"

"You're going to love me forever for this…" He paused dramatically. I waited patiently, smiling slightly, and looked over at the oven where my and Charlie's lasagna soon would be done. It was four minutes left. "I've gotten us into Edward Cullen's party tomorrow night!" He finally yelled excitedly.

When I gasped and didn't say anything, he sighed and said:

"Bella, have you lost the phone in the food again and am I now that for talking to your dinner?"

"No, no, sorry, Jasper…I'm just shocked…This is awesome!"

For years Jasper had tried to get us into the Cullen family's fancy parties – and never succeeded. Apparently he had done something differently this time when he asked and we were invited…finally!

"I know, right?" Jasper said. "It starts at six, so should I met you at your house five o'clock?"

I smiled.

"Sure. Okay. Thank you so much, Jazz!"

"No problem, Cinder-Bella. Oh, and make sure Alice helps you pick out clothes – I love you, but you're awful when it comes to dressing."

Jasper chuckled and then hung up. I shook my head with a small grin and then went to put the vegetables on the table.

So, tomorrow I would finally be at the same party as Edward Freaking Cullen….I could stare at him the whole night and maybe, maybe if I was lucky…he might even look at me!

Okay, this needed to be planned thoroughly…My clothes, makeup everything…only because he _maybe_ would notice me now when we're outside school and he wasn't distracted by school work…

Jasper was right; I thought while I made a little happy-dance, I would love him forever for this!!!

…**so what do you think??? Huh, huh, huh? LOL. Comment if you like it….comment if you DON'T like it… comment if you want me to continue…**

**Thanks so much for reading!!!**

**xoxo Matti **


	2. Hard To Find

**Alright, this chapter is a little shorter than the first one... But I just wanted to get this part over with honestly! LOL. But I hope you guys enjoy... You gotta love Emmett... **

CHAP 2 'Hard To Find'

Edward Cullen was frustrated. Angry. Confused. Disappointed.

He told his huge muscled brother Emmett this.

"Whoa, seriously, Edward. One person can't feel that much at one time! Good thing our dad's a doctor, dude." He replied seriously and patted his shoulder.

The two Cullen brothers were walking towards Edward's precious silver Volvo at the school parking lot.

Edward ignored Emmett's reply and said:

"I was watching her the entire class. I'd finally decided to speak with her-"

"What I love about this drama-crap-"Emmett interrupted cheerfully and waved at the cheerleaders on the school ground a few feet away when they walked by. One of them was the blond girl, Rosalie. "-is that it really is like some freaking love story, man! You've liked Bella Swan since the first time you-"

"Sssh!" Edward hushed him angrily and looked around nervously if anyone had heard.

Emmett brushed it away with a small wave and took a deep breath to continue the' what he loved about the drama-crap' lecture but Edward said, annoyed:

"_Like I said_, I was going to speak with her… yes, finally, Em-"he added with a sigh when Emmett opened his mouth to add something. "But when the class was over and I went to go talk to her, she just stood up, as if she were in a hurry; grabbed that weird Alice-girls arm and then she just ran out of the classroom. I had no chance to speak with her….again!" Edward frowned. After that she had been nowhere in sight.

"That sucks, man! Maybe tomorrow…" Emmett shrugged and grinned suggestively. Edward understood that he meant the party tomorrow night. But since Bella was a polite, well-raised girl he knew she was not going to show up at a party where there would be alcohol. That's why he hadn't ever invited her to one of the Cullen's 'fancy' parties….

They'd just walked by the huge bushes that usually the younger guys peed in and Emmett grimaced slightly at the smell. When he did Edward could sense, only for a second, a flash of beautiful brown eyes between the leaves.

He shook his head with a smile. Those were the only eyes he ever saw these days, ever since he met her… All he could ever think about was her brown, shimmering hair that went a little over her shoulders, her dangerously beautiful eyes, white perfect teeth and pink, small lips… Oh, what wouldn't he do to kiss those lips…?

"Bro… _Hello_?"

Edward was suddenly aware of Emmett's hand in front of his face. They had ended up in front of the car without him noticing. Bella Swan was really a girl that could make him forget everything around him.

"Dude, can you just _open the car_!?" Emmett complained loudly and waved again in front of his face.

"Right, right." Edward mumbled, distracted and quickly searched for the car keys in his pocket.

A few minutes later when they sat silently in the car with the radio on (Emmett wanted to listen to his hip-hop as always) and Edward thought about…well, guess who…. a weird, very loud ringtone went on.

Edward frowned and made a face when he realized it was his phone. He did recognize the ringtone, but had not picked it. It was the Pokémon theme song.

"Emmett, how many times have I told you to _stop playing_ with my phone!?" He yelled at his brother when he put the mobile to his ear.

Emmett shrugged, untroubled, and continued his wild shaking to the beat of the song on the radio.

With a sigh Edward answered roughly:

"_What_?"

"Am I calling at a bad time?" Esme, his mother, sounded nervous and concerned at his harsh tone. Edward instantly regretted it and apologized. "It's alright, sweetheart." She assured him. "But are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Just… Emmett…" Edward muttered.

"Oh, I understand." Esme said so understandingly that Edward almost laughed. "Well, I was just calling you because I didn't want to change the guest list for the party without your consent."

"Change the guest list?" Edward questioned confusedly. "Why? I told you yesterday that the guest list was already finished."

"I know, sweetie. But I think you want to hear me out… at least if what Emmett told me is true…" Esme trailed off.

"It's probably not." Edward said directly with a worrying feeling in his stomach. What had Emmett told their mother about him? That dork…

"Well, even if it's not… A certain Jasper Hale called me earlier today. He asked for an invitation to the party."

"He calls every year." Edward sighed. He knew who Jasper Hale was. His sister was Rosalie Hale, a cheerleader, that Emmett had a certain interest for. She was also a good friend of Bella… lucky girl… "And every year, every party I tell him no. He's probably a nice guy, but not a friend of mine really…"

"Yes, honey. I know. But he said something that might make you change your mind…" Esme sounded teasing.

"What was that?" Edward said patiently.

"He's a friend of Isabella Swan and if we put them on the guest list he will bring her."

With a gasp of shock Edward went silent. Bella _wanted_ to come…? The beautiful, amazing, wrong-free girl that he'd been desperately in loved with since the first time he saw her wanted to come to his family's party…

"So, am I going to call him back and make him happy or sad?" Esme asked after a few seconds.

It was not a hard decision.

When he hung up five minutes later, Emmett curiously asked why he couldn't keep the smile off his face…

…."Alice?" Bella asked when someone answered 'hello' in the other end.

"Um, no." Alice said ironically. "You called my cell, but _of course _it's not me…"

Bella was too excited to care about her irony and squealed:

"We're going to Edward Cullen's party tomorrow night!!!"

"Whaaaaat!?" Alice screamed in a thin voice, the irony completely vanished. "How? When? Woooow!"

Bella laughed in delight and relaxed on her bed with outstretched legs. The rest of the night had passed in a blur after Jasper's phone call and she hadn't been able to keep the smile off her face for very long. Charlie had been seriously worried – even so worried that he looked up from his plate while they ate and asked 'Bells, I know you're a nice girl with good grades and all… but, you know… have you been drinking?'Bella couldn't blame him for wondering.

"Jasper asked for an invitation and this time, by some weird reason, they said yes!!!" she explained to Alice with a high-pitched voice. She almost sounded like Alice normally did, which was a huge deal.

"This. Is. Huge!" Alice exclaimed excitedly.

"You have to help me get ready, Alice! Pretty please!" Bella begged desperately. She couldn't look like….well, herself…when she went to Edward (hot, amazing, angel) Cullen's party.

"Of course I will, Bella! You can't do it yourself. What kind of friend would I be if I let you, Isabella Maria Swan, get ready on her own?" Alice said seriously. Bella huffed but still smiled happily.

"Great! Thank you! Sooooo, Jasper will be at my house tomorrow night at five…"

"Good, then four it is." Alice laughed.

The two friends hung up and Bella giggled to herself. It was amazing how one party could seem like the most important thing that year… how one guy could make her smile like an idiot and feel so incredibly happy…

**There you go! Like I said before, this part I just wanted over with so that I could move on... The next chapters will probably get better and better! But tell me what you think of the story so far... what would you like to happen? Who do you like to read about the most?**

**The next chapter will be at the party. Oooh! I'm so exctied to write it... **

**Take care guys and thanks so much for reading chapter 2!**

**xoxo Matti **


	3. Catch Me

**Alright, I just kind of had a little fun with this one! I hope you guys like it! Enjoy!**

"Edward, come check it out!" Emmett called enthusiastically from downstairs.

The house had been completely changed over night from Esme's usual soft colors and beautiful paintings into something that looked like a bar and a real Hollywood party. This was, of course, nothing unusual for any of the Cullen family members. Every morning before a party their living room, kitchen, second living room, huge hall with the stairs looked like this.

So, when Edward came down the stairs he didn't throw more than a glance at the party decorations, declined a drink from the bartender who already looked slightly drunk and looked for his brother who'd called.

"In here, Eddie!" Emmett yelled cheerfully. The second living room.

"What?" Edward muttered, distracted when he entered the room. His thoughts had been elsewhere all night yesterday and all morning…

Emmett stood in the middle of the room with something at his head that could have been a hat if it wouldn't have been so small. Of course, things always looked small on Emmett, but even this hat must be small on anyone… even Bella's small, but perfect head…

"Look at this!" Emmett beamed and pointed at his head and the light green thing on it.

"Um… that's great, Em." Edward said ironically. "_What is it_?" he added, with a small grin.

His brother looked hurt and draped his arms around himself. It looked quite hilarious when he did, considering his arms were thick and ridiculously muscled. Edward smiled wider.

"It's a party hat!" Emmett said defensively. He took the green thing from his head and eyed it proudly. "I made it myself…. And…" He ran over to a box on the floor that Edward hadn't noticed at first. "I made more! Look…!"

Emmett showed him all the hats in the box and he smiled widely, excitedly. There were more than enough for everyone coming to the party that day.

"Wow, that's…." Edward searched for words, trying to keep a straight face. But he didn't succeed and began to laugh, hard. Leave it to Emmett to distract him from his constant nerves for that night. He was usually the only one that could.

"Here, try it on!" Emmett grinned, obviously thinking that Edward's laughter was a good sign. He shoved one of the hats into Edward's hands and watched him expectantly.

"No thanks, Em. I'd rather not embarrass myself further. It's enough to admit that we're related."

"Boys!" Esme's voice pierced through the silence where Emmett made an ugly sign with one of his fingers. Edward grinned playfully. "Boys, it's time for school!"

"Yes, mom!" The boys called in unison and then stared disgustedly at each other as they did.

"So, are you ready for tonight, eh?" Emmett asked as they kissed their mother goodbye and walked towards Edward's Volvo outside.

"As ready as I can be." Edward sighed. Since Emmett was the only person he really could open up to, even though he was the most childish guy ever, he continued: "What if she won't notice me now either, Em? I mean, sure, in school with all her work and, you know… but if she doesn't notice me at home either…."

I can give up my hopes, he finished mentally.

Emmett patted his shoulder.

"Well, there are a lot of girls that would be willing to…" he joked and Edward smacked his head – hard.

"Seriously, Emmett! I'm trying to be honest with you, here."

The two brothers laughed and Edward found himself a little calmer when he realized that he had a whole day in school when he could stare at her before the party…

**ExBxExBxExBxExBxExB**

"Bella, stop that."

"Stop what?"

"That!"

"You can't say 'stop that' without saying what 'that' is!"

Alice sighed dramatically and smiled apologetically at someone she accidently bumped into in the hallway when she threw her head back in frustration and didn't watch where she was going.

"Stop worrying, stressing, and jump whenever you see what time it is and look for an excuse out of it." she explained matter-of-factly though irritably.

Bella sighed and shrugged, not even trying to deny it.

"I'm nervous, Al."

"_Oh no, really?_ Are you?" Alice said her voice dripping with sarcasm. Bella stuck her tongue out at her and they stopped for a second at Alice's locker. She opened it with a loud _bang _and ruefully gathered her books. "But I don't even understand why. 1) You are going to look so freaking hot when I'm done with you that Edward Cullen won't stand a chance. 2) it's not like you have to talk to him if you don't want to, considering it's not only going to be you two at the party. Though-" she added. "I know you enough to tell that you do want to talk to him… that's only one of the things you want to do with him!" she winked.

Bella smacked her arm and blushed red. She looked away at everyone surrounding them in the corridor instead.

"What, it's true!" Alice said innocently and slammed her locker shut. They continued down the hallway together and didn't notice the two boys who suddenly walked behind them. The boys were just as concentrated in their conversation as well that they did not notice the girls.

"It's amazing how nervous one girl can get you." Emmett just told Edward mockingly and shook his head.

"Um, excuse me? Who was it that ran like a little girl when Lauren Mallory chased him at the pool on our trip with our English class last summer?" Edward snapped back, though playfully and laughed at the memory of Emmett and the blond girl running after him with lipstick.

Emmett turned bright red on both his cheeks and murmured incoherently for a moment.

"Relax, Bella… Everything is going to be okay!" Alice began a few feet away from them. "In fact, you should be focusing on having fun at the party…cause' you're quite lucky…"

It was then it happened. The moment that had never occurred under the years Edward and Bella had gone to the same school. They met…

Bella screamed when she slipped on the floor and closed her eyes tightly. She was ready to hit the hard floor and pass out and damage herself for life… But the floor never came.

Instead a pair of strong, warm arms wrapped around her and caught her in, what must have been, just the right second.

Shocked, Bella opened her eyes.

His breath on her face gave Bella goose bumps and the arms wrapped around her felt like soft silk.

Edward Cullens face was just a few inches from hers and it was if a dream was coming true.

Little did she know, that he was just thinking the same thing.

For a few seconds they could only stare at each other, deep into each other's eyes. Brown into green. Both felt the electric humming between their bodies and how well they fitted together…

"Oh my god." Bella finally breathed and felt the familiar blush creep her face.

Edward smiled shyly and felt, to his embarrassment, that he was also blushing. Quickly he helped her up on her feet and then let go off her waist unwillingly. The places they've been touching at ached for more…

Alice and Emmett were frozen one foot away, staring at them. The rest of the hallway also looked interestedly at them, but continued to walk pass them as if nothing special had just happened, as if Edward Cullen and Bella Swan hadn't just finally met…

**BPOV**

_Embarrassing. Embarrassing. Oh. My. God. Edward…. Arms…. Me…. _

My thoughts were incoherent when Alice and Emmett began to laugh hysterically at our expressions and at their own reactions.

I blushed even deeper, if that was possible, but couldn't tear my eyes away from Edward. He looked right back at me. He was so beautiful, even more so when he looked straight at you… His ruffled hair, his perfect lips… oh, the lips… and his tight shirt against the muscled chest….gosh!

"Thanks." I mumbled through my teeth and tried to force a smile. "For… you know…" My face was so hot that you could have made eggs on my forehead. Alice told me this. "Thank you, Alice." I replied icily and she giggled.

Edward seemed uncomfortable and I couldn't blame him. Poor guy. He was probably wondering how to get out of this situation as fast as possible…

"You're welcome." He told me, smiling uncertainly. My heart reacted at once and started to beat faster. Damn! Why did I have to gawk? Stop it, Bella!

"So-"Edward and I said at the same time. We then laughed awkwardly. I wanted to sink through earth, disappear… Why couldn't anyone just kill me already?

I heard Emmett chuckle; which I thought was rather weird… he was scary, after all. I never thought he could do something as natural as laugh. Alice giggled quietly behind us too.

"Well…I'll see you at our party?" Edward said after a few seconds of embarrassing silence. I nodded nervously and licked my lips. By some weird reason this made him stare for a while, before he shook his head and said a little breathless:

"Goodbye then, Bella."

He took Emmett's arm and forced him to walk with him away from there. They immediately started to talk again while Emmett laughed. I thought I heard him chuckle 'you should have seen your face!'

"He knew my name?" I whispered, stunned. I felt warm, excited and…

"…Embarrassed!" I complained to Alice where we sat in the ladies bathroom talking, giggling, and (for me) crying about what just happened.

"I thought it was cute." Alice told me for the hundredth time. I rolled my eyes and shrugged.

"It doesn't matter… the point is, I can't go to the party…"

"What!?" Alice shrieked. She looked surprised, confused… furious.

"That shouldn't be a surprise, Ali. I can never, ever look at him again without blushing like a complete idiot and-"

"Wow, what a change that would be. Blushing when Edward is around, huh?" Alice teased. I scowled at her, but she pretended not to notice. "You have to go to this party, Bella! Don't you get it?"

"Get what?"

"Okay, this is going to sound really corny and all but…" Alice took a deep breath and smiled knowingly. "It must be fate."

"Excuse me?" I spat. "Fate, that I trip over my own feet and Edward happens to be a nice guy and saves me before I injure myself for life?"

"No." she said patiently. "But don't you think it's kind of funny" I snorted at her last word. Nothing about this situation was anything but humiliating. "that after so long Jasper manages to get us into the Cullens party. And the same day when the party is you trip and he catches you… you talk for the first time." Alice clapped her hands together, smiling contently. "Fate must have wanted you to meet now. You were ready."

"You're right…" I started slowly and Alice beamed happily. "It does sound corny." Her face fell and she sighed.

"You're stubborn, as always." She stated with a sad expression. But then her face lightened again and she sang: "But you'll hopefully see when we go to that party tonight!"

"See what, exactly?"

"What I just saw." Alice smiled teasingly. I groaned, knowing that pressing for more information on what she meant would be hopeless…

That for I stared back at my mirror image instead. My face was still flushed and I could still feel the places his hands had touched me…

Though it had been the most embarrassing moment of my life, it had also been the first time I'd ever spoken to Edward Cullen… I couldn't help but smile hugely at that. He'd caught me, smiled at me…only to be polite of course, but still… and he'd known my name. My heart sang.

**EPOV**

"Hey, c'mon, Eddie…"

"Don't call me Eddie." I snapped at Emmett, my voice muffled because I was resting my head in my hands. "Oh god…." I groaned, my face still hot.

We were at the male's bathroom. I sat at the floor against the wall and Emmett stood in front of me, grinning hugely.

"It's not that bad, you know."

"Yeah, sure, you're right." I said ironically and glared at him through my fingers. "This is _good_. Now I definitely don't have to worry about whether she will notice me or talk to me at the party… _because there is no chance in hell_!" I finished in a hiss.

Emmett laughed his booming laugh, but stopped when he realized that I wasn't joking.

"I was just standing there…blushing…stuttering… I said nothing!" I growled, furious with myself.

"Yeah, but you saved her, didn't you?" Emmett added and shrugged his huge shoulders. "So what? You couldn't talk…. Neither could she!"

It was true. Bella had certainly been awfully quiet and blushed as much as me. But I doubted her reasons were even close to mine…

"Whatever…" I muttered. There was no way I was going to the stupid party now. Bella most likely thought I was an idiot and I couldn't blame her. I sure had acted like one…

"Hey, you should be celebrating, bro! You talked to her!" Emmett punched my back friendly and winked.

Well, at least he _tried_ to be understanding, I thought sourly…

"Well, I rather I hadn't." I mumbled. "Better to not have a conversation at all than to have a bad one."

But this wasn't true. I wouldn't trade my moment to hold her in my arms and look straight into her beautiful brown eyes and see them looking back for anything.

**Comments make me write faster :) Thank you for reading!! oh and yeah I know I wrote in the last chapter that this would be about the party but I kind of came up with this and wanted to have it this way first...but.... THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE AT THE PARTY! LOL. **


	4. The Party pt 1

**Alright, here you have it.... Thank you so much for all your reviews, this chapter wouldn't be written if it weren't for them... I hope you enjoy! Personally, I love this chapter... **

**EPOV**

The walls in my room shook violently and I gritted my teeth angrily. Emmett really wasn't giving up.

When my books started to fall down from their shelves on the floor I'd had enough.

I slammed my door open and shouted, furiously: "Emmett, if you don't stop punching in my walls I will personally make sure you don't ever walk again, do you understand!?"

I heard his delighted chuckle and with a growl I knocked on his door. He opened and smiled at me innocently.

"What, dear brother of mine?" he said politely with a playful twinkle in his eyes.

Instead of shouting at him, which had been my purpose three seconds ago, I sighed deeply and went into his room and sat down at his bed. Emmett frowned in surprise and curiously closed the door.

"I can't go to that party, Em." I mumbled and felt the bed sink a few centimeters when Emmett sat down next to me. He patted my shoulder but said nothing, though I saw him smirk in the corner of my eye. I rolled my eyes. "Do I get to hear the joke?"

"Alright." Emmett nodded eagerly as if he had hoped I would ask and took a deep breath. "Imagine this guy who likes this girl. He doesn't think that she likes him back, but he's liked her for a really long time!" I frowned when I understood where he was going with this, but didn't interrupt.

"Then imagine that this guy is having a party at his house, he finds out that the girl wants to go and he sends her an invitation. She is coming to his house! Oooh, _how exciting_!" Emmett imitated a girly, Barbie voice at the last part and I smiled softly.

"But then suddenly he bumps into Be- I mean, the girl… and he saves her from falling down. They talk awkwardly like to love-birds." I smacked the back of his head. "Now imagine, _Edward_-"Emmett frowned in disapproval. "that the guy suddenly has an idea of skipping the party just because of the little, little, _little _awkward conversation… He doesn't want to go anymore….Even though he likes this girl so much _and_ even though his gorgeous, heartbreakingly understandable brother-"I laughed out loud at this and Emmett smirked. "tried to convince him, he wouldn't go…."

We sat in silence for a while.

"Was that the joke?" I teased after a while. "It wasn't that funny."

"No, _Eddie_!" Emmett said and emphasized my hated nickname. "The joke is you! Seriously, I don't get it! I mean, sure, I'm a little slow… But you don't make sense!"

I sighed and smirked while I shook my head.

"You're right. I don't. Thanks for the…um…story and the… no, really, just thank you for the story…and don't forget your little_ hat_ at the party today!" I winked and left his room, but not before I heard him groan loudly and yell "Party starts in an half hour! Be there or you will have a black eye to match your favorite shirt with and I'll make you wear one of the hats!" I chuckled quietly.

**BPOV **

"Okay, Bella, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way… either way it's your choice." Alice said calmly while she bent down on her knees to search for me under the couch.

I smiled to myself. She wouldn't look for me under the kitchen table anytime soon, thinking that I wouldn't be so unintelligent and predictable to hide under the table. After all, especially not when the war was about something as important as….

"Makeup, Bella! It's just makeup…and I thought I promised to make you look fabulous? No offense, but every girl needs makeup for that…please, Bella…You know I'll win anyway…"

I never had, would or should wear makeup… end of discussion! Or at least it would have been if I wasn't having the discussion with Alice Brandon. She always got her way in the end.

That was why I was hiding under the table. Because this time she simply couldn't get her way.

I was not wearing makeup! Never, never, _never_! And there was nothing she could say or do that could make me….

"Don't you want to look good in front of Edward?" her voice was teasing, she knew I'd give in…

Two seconds later I sat in my bathroom with Alice and her eye shadow in my face. She did get her way. Naturally. Damn Pixie.

Jasper was on time and 5 PM sharp the doorbell rang. Alice, who told me to hold my position because she wasn't done styling my hair, danced to get the door. I heard them speak for longer than I liked with my head in a very uncomfortable angle and couldn't help but shout "Still here!" after ten minutes.

Alice came back, apologized but did not look sorry at all when she continued to style my hair. In fact, she looked incredibly happy and couldn't keep a smile off her face. That made me smile and I reminded myself to ask Jasper about it later.

"He's waiting in the kitchen." Alice replied when I asked where he was. She smiled even wider when she said this and hurried to get my hair done.

I eyed myself in the mirror and actually had to admit that I looked good. It was Alice after all who'd helped me, she was a wonder worker… When I told her this she rolled her eyes, but still smiling and said:

"Well, you always give me good material to work with in the first place. Now, come."

I threw a last glance in the mirror and looked at my midnight black dress up and down. It was sleeveless and went to my knees. Guess who picked it…? Hrm, hrm.

"I can't go, Alice." I said suddenly, but she did not look surprised. In fact, she didn't even react. Because I had said the same thing ten times the latest hour.

"Of course you can. And you will. And you will have _fun_." She repeated for the tenth time that hour, sounding determined. "Now, c'mon, let's go! The party has already started and we wouldn't want_ Edward_ to wait for too long, would we?"

I blushed furiously and she giggled.

**EPOV **

Okay, so obviously spending the first minutes of the party in a corner with Jessica Stanley was not so much fun and I was relieved when I heard the door bell. It had gone off every minute for the last hour when the guests arrived, but since Emmett now was busy talking (and other things) with Rosalie, I could excuse myself and go open the door.

"Come back soon, babe." Jessica purred and licked her lips in a way she must have thought was sexy. I shivered and quickly made his escape towards the door.

Emmett had been like a kid on Christmas Eve when he saw me on the party and had that for not made me wear a so-called hat, which I was very grateful for when I opened the door. My heart skipped a beat.

"Bella." I breathed with a happy smile on my face and felt how my whole body reacted to the fact that she was less than a feet away from me. She smiled shyly, her face turning the beautiful bright red that I'd seen earlier that day too.

"Hello." She whispered and looked more embarrassed than ever when I offered to take her coat. First then did I realize that she had company. It was a man.

I felt my muscles tense. Did she have a boyfriend, then? The man's hair was blond, his eyes blue… he was obviously good looking…

The jealousy burned painfully and I felt a sudden urge to crush his skull. I was just going to ask politely who it was when he offered his hand:

"Jasper Hale."

"And I'm Alice Brandon."

I looked down and saw who I had missed before. It was the short, pixie-like girl with black hair from the hallway. Bella's friend. "We met earlier today." She said, confirming my thoughts with a smile. At her words Bella blushed more than ever and looked down. I grinned in spite of myself and said:

"Come in, come in. Welcome you guys." When Jasper passed me I threw a cold glance at him and I saw his face become confused before the light disappeared when I closed the door.

I followed Bella with my gaze as she followed Alice and Jasper in through the door and a little back and forth in the hall. They didn't seem to quite know what to do. To my comfort Bella and Jasper didn't seem to be a couple… actually it seemed like the girl named Alice and him had something going on… I was more relieved than I could put into words.

The music was playing loud, the lights were turned off and people danced all around the place…You could smell the alcohol.

"Bell-"I started, but was interrupted by the famous interrupter Emmett Cullen.

"Red-face!" He grinned and pulled Bella into a hug. I gasped, furious that he interrupted me and did something that I wanted so bad, but never had gotten the chance to.

"Um, hello." Bella blushed at Emmett, while Alice giggled.

"Do you want to dance?" I saw Jasper whisper the words in Alice's ear and she nodded with a huge smile. Bella who seemed to notice too threw her a killing glance, but her friend only winked and disappeared among the other dancing couples.

Emmett didn't seem to notice the embarrassing silence that came after that (of course, it was hard to think when the music was so loud). I stood a little further away from Bella than Emmett who stood right in front of her. Bella looked down on her feet and her face never stopped blushing. She looked beautiful.

"This is so awesome, isn't it?" Emmett grinned, pleased. He winked at me and I grimaced at him, but Bella didn't notice for her eyes never left her shoes.

I wished I could think of something smart to say, something that would make us start talking and something that would make her more comfortable. First, we needed to get rid of my annoying brother…

My feet moved willingly closer to her and Emmett and I stopped next to the unwanted one and stretched to hiss in his ear:

"Go. Away."

"What!?" he shouted and leaned in closer. I knew he was just faking and smacked the back of his head.

He smirked, waved at Bella who finally had looked up and smiled when I abused my brother and then he finally walked away towards where Rosalie stood and watched us amusedly.

The silence fell between us again then. It was embarrassing and for a second I actually wished that I hadn't told Emmett to leave yet so that he could fill the silence like he always did when it was uncomfortable. At least until I came up with something good to say…

I wondered bitterly why she even stood there any longer… When I quickly glanced around the room I saw at least five other guys staring with open mouths at her… Well, I couldn't blame them even though I wanted to punch every one of them…

Her dress looked perfect on her; it hugged every delicate curve, brushed her legs… Her lips seemed full of invitations… Even her smell invited me in. So fresh, it smelled like freesia and flowers… I doubted she was wearing perfume.

I shook my head. _Snap out of it! _I told myself.

"So, um, do you want to get a drink?" I asked her nervously, afraid of rejection.

She looked up, almost surprised, and blinked once.

"Um, sure." Her face reddened even more, but she looked happy that I asked.

_She'd said yes!_ I wanted to dance, but since I highly doubted she would appreciate it I only smiled and gesticulated towards the bar.

Side by side, so close that our shoulders almost brushed, we walked against the bar. We didn't say anything, but it felt like some electric energy was humming between us. It was amazing.

"Ladies first." I offered when we reached the drunk bartender who was busy serving a boy with blond hair and his date.

"Thanks." Bella whispered so low that I didn't have any hope of hearing it, but read it on her perfect, pink lips. It was a good thing that the bartender came up to us behind the bar at that time, or otherwise I would have continued to stare at her lips…

"Um, a coke, please!" Bella ordered over the music and leaned forward slightly so that he would hear her. I smiled to myself. Of course she wouldn't drink alcohol. Neither did I, or Emmett… or at least he didn't most of the time. My parents had forbidden it of course. But they understood that a party wouldn't be a party without alcohol so they allowed some… only if we stayed away from it.

The bartender turned his unsteady gaze at me.

"The same." I told him in a loud voice.

When we had gotten our drinks I was definitely happy that we had. It gave me an excuse to why I didn't say anything…

There were so many things I would like to say to her, and I understood that in a flash she could stand next to some other guy in here (because why would she stay here with me?) but I simply couldn't get the words out.

**BPOV**

Edward seemed nervous about something while we drank our cokes together. He looked gorgeous of course in his tight shirt and black jeans, but I couldn't help but notice even in the dark that he looked frustrated and anxious.

I, on the other hand, became more and more at ease. It was weird how easy it was to be in his company. Even though my cheeks always burned when he looked at me or told me something and smiled, he was still so easy to talk to and… like.

Something I couldn't understand, though, was why he was still standing here at the bar with me. He could have any girl in this room and still he settled for plain, boring me.

"So, um, do you have any relatives?" He asked suddenly and when I turned to look at him his eyes bore into mine intensely. I gulped and my cheeks burned.

When I answered my voice was shaky, but I hoped he couldn't hear it over the loud music:

"No. My mom and dad divorced before they had any more chance to… um… have more kids."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Edward looked truly concerned for me. I smiled, my head whirling of the intense magnet-feeling between us. We stood only a few centimeters away from each other and my body screamed for his touch.

"It's okay." I told him honestly. "What about you, then? I've met Emmett" He grinned apologetic when I said this and I giggled. "but do you have any other brother or sister?"

"No, I-"Edward started while he shook his head and then accidently brushed his hand against mine when he brought it to his hair.

The electric shook that went through me, all the way from my toes to my brain, made me yank away from him. The place that his hand had touched mine burned painfully for more.

I knew immediately that he had felt it too; for his eyes were wide with surprise and shock and when we'd touched he'd also automatically moved away.

"I'm sorry." He mouthed.

My breathing was faster than normal when I nodded with an uncertain smile and moved closer again carefully. He did the same and I saw him swallow loudly.

"So, as I was saying…" He began, as if there hadn't been an interruption. But I thought he sounded a little breathless by some reason. "No, I do not have any other relatives. There's more than enough with Emmett."

I laughed loudly.

**EPOV**

When she laughed, her beautiful, heartwarming laugh, I found myself staring idiotically at her. She stared back.

I didn't know how long time it went, our eyes were locked with each other… her beautiful, brown eyes… Suddenly, I felt my eyes go to her lips…

Then without warning I leaned in to kiss her… My brain didn't have time to keep up with me and I did it without thinking…

**Ooooh, the drama! ;) I know I'm being mean leaving it like that, but hey, the next chapter is already in works... It will also be at the party obviously and pick up exactly where I left off! But if you want to me to post it, then I suggest you to click at the green button and review... LOL :) **

**Thanks so much for reading! I hope you liked it!**

**xoxo Matti **


	5. The Party pt 2

_**Last Chapter**__: Suddenly, I felt my eyes go to her lips… _

_Then without warning I leaned in to kiss her… My brain didn't have time to keep up with me and I did it without thinking… _

**EPOV**

But, as always when I was about to do something I wanted…

"Edward!"

….someone interrupted. I groaned quietly and quickly jumped back to my previous position. Bella looked shocked but didn't comment at my sudden closeness before and stared when the blond girl jumped between us.

"Baby, I've been looking for you!" Jessica squealed and jumped into my arms and hugged me. I wrinkled my nose disgustedly and wished she would let go. Comparing to Bella she smelled disgusting.

Over Jessica's shoulder I saw Bella look away and my heart throbbed painfully when I saw that she looked sad, by some reason.

I pushed the blond girl away who gasped at the rejection. Bella couldn't be sad… I couldn't let her be sad…

"Bella, are you okay? "I began, shrieking over the loud music, though I had no idea how to comfort her since I did not know what had made her so sad. She probably didn't want to be comforted by me either for all I knew, but I couldn't let her be in pain…

However, the Blondie clearly wasn't planning to give up without a fight. She seemed to have forgotten that I just pushed her away.

"Listen babe, I was thinking maybe we could go to your room and…" she shouted over the music.

"I-I have to go, Edward." Bella said suddenly, her tone a little sharper than usual and when I looked at her I saw that her eyes were cold. She was mad.

I frowned.

"Oh." I said.

Jessica pulled my shirt to get my attention back, but I ignored her.

"Yeah, Alice is waiting for me." Bella lied. It was so obvious that she did, that if I hadn't been so unhappy that she was leaving I would have laughed.

"But, _why_…?"

She'd already turned her back on me and quickly disappeared in the darkness and all the dancing people. I gawked after her, my mind a complete blank.

Jessica touched my cheek, but I barely felt it since my mind was elsewhere… What just happened?

**BPOV**

"Wow, I never thought this day would come." Alice said lightly where we sat at the porch outside the Cullen's house. The loud music could be heard even out here in the cold.

"What?" I sniffed and wiped away another tear from my cheek.

"The day when you would be mad at Edward Cullen."

I sighed and rested my aching head in my lap. But the aching in my head was nothing against the aching in my heart.

"He was going to kiss me, Ali. I don't know why, I really don't… But he was and I, well, wanted him to… Then this girl comes…!" I groaned, irritated. "A girl that was obviously his girlfriend…"

"You don't know that, Bella." Alice said patiently.

Jasper was waiting inside and I could tell that she wanted to go back to him. But being the good friend she was, she would stay as long as I needed her.

"But it was obvious!" I exclaimed. "I can't believe how he could do that to her! His girlfriend. Just kiss some random girl…"

"Some random girl?" Alice repeated sourly. She shook her head. "I really thought you would see it tonight, Bella. It is so obvious."

I frowned at her, confused.

"See what?"

"What I told you that I saw today in the hallway!" Alice was frustrated, I could tell. But I didn't understand. What did she mean?

"Explain." I pleaded and leaned my head against her shoulder. She patted my hair, but said nothing for a while. "Alice, are you awake?"

"Sorry, but I won't tell you. I'm going to let you two figure this out on your own."

I groaned.

"You really are the most annoying pixie in the world." I told her teasingly.

"Thanks, I try." She winked.

**EPOV **

"Edward, what shirt do you think I should wear?"

I sighed and looked up from my book. Not that I could concentrate on the words, but holding it in front of my eyes made it look like I did something else but worry and pout.

After Bella left me with Jessica so abruptly last night I hadn't thought about anything else. Sure, I understood that she wanted to leave me. But why had she been so sad, cold and mad?

Obviously I must have done something wrong. But _what_…?

Emmett stood in front of me with two shirts – in the same color.

"Em-"I sighed tiredly. "They look exactly the same."

My brother glanced down at the two shirts and frowned. After a few seconds he grinned.

"Oh, you are right!" he said cheerfully. "But then it's even harder to choose…" He frowned again.

I groaned and rolled my eyes. My eyes darted back to the page I was "reading".

"Okay, seriously, what's up?" Emmett sat down next to me and accidently bumped my arm so that the book flew out of my hands. He ignored it and stared at me patiently.

"What do you mean?" I muttered and bent down to pick it up.

"_You're pouting again_!" Emmett exclaimed. "But I saw you talking to Bella at the party… it seemed to go so well…"

"It did." I told him bitterly. "It was heaven. At least it was until she was suddenly all mad and disappeared out of nowhere."

Emmett chuckled.

"Women." He smiled appreciatively. "They are kind of like cats… They like to cuddle, but they use their claws…"

I stared at him. That was the stupidest thing I had ever heard and I'd lived with him for my entire life.

"Well, they are." he said defensively when he saw my face.

"Whatever, Emmett." I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, look at it this way… if she's mad at you, you obviously must have done something wrong. So, just apologize, okay? Works all the time." He winked as if he'd said something really smart and hard to understand.

"Wow, and here I thought _you_ were stupid, when I'm clearly the guilty one." I said ironically.

"You don't want my advice? Fine!" Emmett said with pride. "But at least _I_ was the one that got kissed last night…." He left my room with a smirk and slammed my door shut.

That night I was still thinking of Bella, like always… but tonight I thought about her in a different way. Because I actually knew her a little bit now and, not so surprisingly, I liked her even more when I had started to get to know her…

I desperately wanted to know more. It was like a thirst that could not be cured with anything else but the answers to the questions that I burned to ask… I had to know everything about her. All the where's and whys to everything she did or didn't do.

But my biggest problem before I could even hope to get the answers to those questions was that I had no idea why she so suddenly didn't want my company last night…

Was it because she simply couldn't stand my presence anymore?

Jessica had been there… maybe she didn't like Jessica?

But the more I thought of it, the more stupid my ideas to the reason became. I had to ask her. I needed to. Now.

**BPOV**

I sat in my room on the Saturday evening at my computer and checked my e-mail. My mom still apparently hadn't gotten a chance to use a computer wherever she and Phil now were.

With a sigh, because my only distraction had disappeared, I realized that I again was thinking about Edward Cullen.

I had tried not to. Truly.

_He has a girlfriend, Bella! He's taken. _

I couldn't believe that I never had thought of the possibility that Edward might have a girlfriend. It was probably because he simply was not around girls that much, surprisingly… But of course he did. He was gorgeous, everyone with eyes saw that! And now that I had gotten to know him tonight I knew that he was also the sweetest, funniest, most caring guy on the earth.

It would have been odd if he hadn't had a girlfriend.

I was jealous. Naturally. The girl had been hot, of course, and blond… He probably loved her. It hurt to even think it…

"Bells?" Charlie called from down-stairs.

"Yeah?" I sighed.

"I'm going to watch the game at Billy's house tonight. Will you be okay?"

Charlie only asked to be nice and a good father. He knew I could take care of myself. I had, so many times before.

"Sure! I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, honey! I love you."

"Love you."

The door slammed and I breathed out, listening to the engine in his car start. He drove away.

I was going to go to bed early, to escape the thoughts of Edward… It was ridiculous how even more obsessed I'd become the latest two days. But, of course, I knew I'd dream of him anyway…

How pathetic I was.

"_I don't wanna be anything under that what I've been…"_

My phone buzzed on the bedside table and with a bored glance I stood up and slowly put it to my ear.

"Hello?" My tone was dead.

"Don't be so cheerful, Bella, people are gonna think you're happy."

"What is it, Alice?" I sighed.

"I just wanted to talk to my best friend. I'm _so_ sorry that I bothered you." Alice said ironically.

"Sorry." I muttered. "How did it go with Jasper yesterday?" I added with a yawn. We hadn't talked since I left the party after my conversation with Alice on the porch. She and Jasper had stayed.

Alice sighed longingly in the other end.

"He is so perfect." She gushed. "I really like him and I think he likes me too, Bella, I really do!"

I laughed quietly. And she said I was slow…

"I know, Ali. I've been trying to tell you every day for quite a while now."

"Whatever! Anyway, so I told him to ask me out and-"

"You _told_ him to ask you out?" I gasped, impressed. "Wow."

"Yes. And thanks." Alice giggled. "So, we're going out next weekend."

"That's so awesome, Alice. I'm so happy for you." I smiled.

And I really was. I'd tried to get Alice and Jasper together for months. But they had been stubborn even though it had been obvious they liked each other. Now, they were finally going out!

"Thanks. And oh, I might point out that this is exactly the reason I'm letting you figure out this whole thing with Edward on your own."

I frowned in confusion after my heart had throbbed painfully when she mentioned his name.

"Would it kill you to ever tell me what you're talking about?" I sighed.

"Bella, c'mon, keep up!" Alice groaned. "You tried to hook me up with Jasper for god knows how long and it didn't work… when we took care of it ourselves it did. You need to write your own love story. That's why I'm letting you figure out your feelings for Edward by yourself."

"He. Has. A. Girlfriend." I said slowly as if she was mentally retarded.

"No, he doesn't." Alice said calmly.

"I saw it with my own eyes!" I gasped. Did she think I was lying? I _never_ lied. Mostly because I hated lies, but also because I simply _couldn't_ – no one believed me.

"No, you saw a girl." Alice stated simply. "What if it was a friend, maybe even a relative? You don't know, because you ran away!"

"Yeah, I'm sure all his cousins or aunts usually hug him and suggest that they should go up to his room?" I said ironically. When she was about to argue I interrupted: "I don't want to talk about this." I muttered.

All the talking about Edward made me feel sick and painfully happy at the same time.

"Fine." Alice pouted.

"I'm going to bed. Night, Ali!"

"Night, Bells. Sleep tight… and have fun dreaming about Edward tonight."

With a groan I hung up and threw the phone on my bedside table again. She was _so_ annoying!

Sometimes I had to remind myself of that she was the most patient, caring and beautiful best friend on earth, or otherwise I would never put out with her. She really knew how to push my buttons.

I showered, still upset about the conversation with Alice. I didn't exactly know why it had made me so mad – maybe because I actually by some reason started to doubt that it was Edward's girlfriend that I saw last night. He hadn't looked very happy to see her, after all, now that I thought of it. Of course, that didn't mean that he didn't have one… but if it hadn't been his girlfriend I was the biggest jerk alive for leaving him without explanation….

So, I wasn't mad at Alice or him anymore. I was mad at myself.

When I was done for bed and I had just made myself comfortable under the covers my phone again buzzed on the bedside table.

Annoyed, I realized that it had to be Alice again who only called to make more fun of me about Edward or give me more questions that I had to figure out on my own.

"I want to sleep, we'll talk tomorrow! I don't want to talk more about Edward Cullen, Alice!" I answered furiously, breathing hard of frustration.

It went silent on the other end and all I could hear was the rough breathing from someone who was definitely not Alice… Before I could think more or say anything else, the most beautiful, familiar, velvet voice mumbled:

"I'm sorry; I'll call you back another time then…"

**Another cliffy! Mohahah! I am mean, but admit it; it makes you want to read the next chapter more, doesn't it? :) **

**Thank you so much for you reviews, it means alot and helps me write, so keep it up! **

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ;)**

**xoxo Matti **


	6. The Phone Call

**I wrote this chapter really quickly just because I'd planned it for so long! I hope you enjoy, I think it's rather cute... **

**E****POV**

I found myself smiling like a dork when Bella answered her phone. It didn't really matter at first that she sounded mad and I didn't really register what she said. My heart was pounding hard in my chest.

"I want to sleep, we'll talk tomorrow! I don't want to talk more about Edward Cullen, Alice!"

My smile widened at her furious tone – she was like a cat that thought she was tiger.

She'd called me by another name… Alice. After all, she did obviously not have my number, so I could be anyone. I had gotten hers from her friend, Jasper, with a simple call to the number that he'd used to our house before when he wanted an invitation to the party. So, she couldn't know who it was.

But had they spoken of me? 'I don't want to talk more about Edward Cullen' I quoted mentally… Hmm…

It took me a second to realize that it had gone completely quiet on the other end and that I, too, wasn't speaking. How embarrassing and… rude.

But, what should I say? She sounded tired and clearly did not want to speak with anyone…

"I'm sorry; I'll call you back another time then."

I heard a gasp and then Bella who cursed quietly. I chuckled to myself.

"No, don't hang up!" she then whispered and I heard, to my surprise, that her voice shook a little. "Edward?" she then added in another whisper.

Strange things happened to my body when she said my name. It was painful but still pleasurable at the same time. The pull to ask her more questions, get to know her, and just be near her grew even stronger.

"Yes." I finally managed to say hoarsely.

Again, it went quiet but this time I was fully aware of it. It wasn't uncomfortable, but still frustrating… I wanted to hear her voice again.

"How are you?" I asked. This was something that I truly was interested in, I realized. Anything could have happened to her during the hours I last saw her…

"Good." She mumbled, though I had the feeling she wasn't completely telling the truth. It was unsatisfying not to know. But if she didn't want to tell me (why would she?) I wasn't going to press her. "How are you?" I must have imagined the curiosity behind her words. Why would Bella care how I was?

"Okay." I admitted.

More silence, then:

"How did you get my number?" She didn't sound mad, simply surprised and curious.

"Your friend Jasper gave it me." I told her quietly.

"Well…" Bella paused and I wanted to urge her on. Everything she said I was interested in. "Did you want something?"

How stupid of me! Why would she want to talk to me? I was acting like an idiot. She probably had other things to do; maybe she was even getting ready for bed… She was probably also still mad at me for whatever reason she had…

I was such an arrogant fool.

"I'm sorry, are you busy?" I asked apologetically.

"No, no!" she hurried to say. To be polite, surely. "But I was just wondering, you know… um… It's kind of late. Is everything alright?"

Her caring tone did not come as a surprise, though it warmed my heart and my whole chest. She was and had always been a caring person, a selfless person who cared a lot about others. Her own well-being was not far up on her list.

Her well-being was, however, far up on my list. It would always be from now on.

A few days earlier I had simply liked Bella Swan, had a certain interest for her. But now I realized that I more than cared for her – I couldn't put it in to words, but the feeling was definitely stronger than anything I'd ever felt before. Strange…

"Everything is fine." I assured her softly. "I just wanted to ask you something."

I listened to her breathing for a few seconds – soft, warm, uneven – before she said:

"Of course. What's up?"

With a frown, I realized that I hadn't actually figured out how to phrase myself. It took a while for me to answer.

"Well, at the party yesterday…" I paused long enough to hear her sharp intake of breath. "When you, totally understandably of course, disappeared from the bar…"

"I'm so sorry, Edward." Bella interrupted and I could hear the true apology in her tone. It surprised me. What did she have to apologize for?

"For what?" I asked confusedly.

When she replied I could hear anguish and regret in her voice and it ripped my soul and heart. I instantly felt guilty, but didn't interrupt of simple curiosity.

"For leaving you just like that, of course. I am so sorry. It was inexcusable."

I was so surprised that it took me a while to form a coherent response.

"It's okay. Really. You have nothing to apologize for. Please drop it, Bella." It was more pleasurable to say her name than it should be. "But this actually leads us to my question; why did you?" I added, when she didn't say anything.

It took a while for her to say something and when she did it was so quiet that I had to concentrate to catch it:

"I didn't want to intrude."

"Sorry?" I asked, while I shook my head, trying to understand.

She was truly completely other and everything she said always took me by surprise. Frustrating, fascinating.

"I didn't want to intrude." Bella repeated louder, clearly thinking that I hadn't heard her.

"I don't understand…." I began, but she cut me off.

"Jessica." It was clear on her tone that she did not like her. Well, neither did I.

But I was still confused. Why would I ever want to be alone with Jessica? It even sounded so comical when I thought it that I laughed out loud.

"Do I get to hear the joke?" Bella asked quietly.

"Yeah. Why would I ever want to be alone with her?" My tone was disgusted.

"Why you would ever want to be alone with your girlfriend?" she questioned uncertainly and I sensed a bit of sarcasm and bitterness in her voice.

I gasped out loud and so sharply that she quickly asked if I was okay. My _girlfriend_…!? Ugh.

"I'm fine, but…" I shook my head, smiling confusedly. She really was something else. "Jessica is not my girlfriend." It sounded ridiculous in my ears to even deny it – that it even was worth denying, that it needed to be. It should be obvious that someone like her was not someone that I would ever want to lay a hand on.

Could this truly be the only reason to why Bella was mad last night?

"Oh." Bella breathed, sounding almost relieved…

But did that mean that she'd been… _jealous_? I considered it for a foolish second.

No, of course not. Why _would_ she be jealous? She surely just didn't like Jessica so much that she didn't wish that _anyone_ would date her. Yes, that had to be it…

"Yes, she's never been. I don't like her at all." I added, to make sure that she got the full message – I wanted nothing to do with the blond bimbo. "She just won't take no for an answer."

It felt weird to explain this to Bella. To me it was so obvious that I liked no one else but her.

"Well, that's good." Bella said.

I was, least said, very happy that I now knew the reason to why she'd been mad. I was also happy that it had been simply a misunderstanding. So happy that I, without thinking, said:

"Can I see you tomorrow?"

Immediately after I said it I regretted it. She would say no. Of course she would.

Tomorrow was Sunday and she surely had more interesting things to do. Maybe she even had other dates…

"Um… Okay?"

I froze in whatever motion I was doing. She'd said _yes_? To me? Just like last night when she'd agreed to have a drink with me I felt like doing a happy dance.

"Really?" I whispered, so happy that my voice couldn't take a higher sound level.

"Yes." Bella sounded confused, surprised. "But… _why_?"

Was she truly that blind? She didn't see how much I cared for her?

"Because I'd love to spend some time with you." I slowly said.

"Oh, okay." She didn't sound convinced and I frowned. Apparently I hadn't been as obvious as I'd thought. Well, tomorrow would be the perfect chance to show her…

First when we hung up a few minutes later and we'd agreed that I would pick her up at four tomorrow, it fully hit me. I WAS GOING OUT WITH BELLA SWAN! It felt unreal, almost like a joke. How had I become so lucky?

This had to be planned carefully… My looks, what we would, what I would say…

Who could help me with this? I didn't know anything about Bella yet, I realized a little irritated. I didn't know what she liked for food, flowers and didn't know what she liked to do on her spare time… I had no idea what a perfect date would be for her. What if she had horrible memories from a cinema and couldn't be taken near one? What if she was allergic to something and I got her sick because she was to kind to inform me that the food we ate was dangerous to her?

Then a name formed in my brain, a name on a person that would know all this, that could, if she wanted to, help me… I smiled.

Alice.

BPOV

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

**Alright. There you go. So, what do you think? I was a little uncertain when I wrote the last part so I really need your opinions on this chapter if you want the next one. It will most likely not be out this quickly because it will be much harder for me to write. I loved your reviews for the last chapter! Thank you! Keep it up!**

**I hope you enjoyed!**

**Be patient :)**

**xoxo Matti **


	7. Visiting Pixie

**Here you go! Sorry for the wait and thanks for all the reviews! They make me write much faster. I hope you enjoy!!**

**EPOV**

I knocked carefully on the clean glass doors. The sun was burning my neck and the heat made me very tempted to jump into the appealing pool.

The Brandon family's house was huge and unbelievably beautiful. It reminded me strongly of the house that the Cohen's lived in, in the popular TV show O.C. Emmett loved that show and screamed of shock and fury when Marissa died.

It felt weird to stand outside the family's pool house and wait. Alice had told me to go there, but I still felt uninvited. The curtains were down and I could not tell if someone was in there.

A maid popped out a head from the second floor through a huge, clean window and shouted: "Young man, who do you wish to meet?" She looked disapproving, as if I was bothering her.

"Alice?" I said slowly.

"Oh." The maid sighed and shook her head with a smile, as if she felt sorry for me. "Young miss Brandon do have a certain interest in a blond boy, dear. I am sorry to tell you that you're wasting your time…"

"Oh no!" I said quickly and shook my head violently. Sure, Alice seemed nice enough but she was definitely not my type. "I'm not… interested in her like that. We're… um…" What were we? Nothing really. "friends." I finished, for there was no other word.

"Hm." The maid huffed with a shrug and closed the window.

I turned towards the pool house again, waiting. Was she planning to let me in today?

Just when I thought that, the door opened quickly. A small hand dragged me inside with enough force to compete with muscled Emmett and I was shocked to find myself inside the room with no warning.

When I turned around towards the door I saw the short girl with black hair carefully peeking out of the door. As if she was expecting me to be followed.

The inside of the pool house looked like a small, luxurious apartment. The room that was also the hall seemed to be a bedroom; I saw a small kitchen and a bathroom. I would easily move in right away if someone offered. Everything was fresh and clean.

Alice closed the door quietly and turned around to face me. She looked so nervous that I laughed.

"I won't bite." I told her loudly.

"Sssh! Not so loud!" she whispered furiously and gently pushed me down on the bed. She sat down next to me and nervously pulled her fingers through the short hair. "I'm not afraid of _you_. I'm afraid of Bella. If she knew you were here she'd kill me."

I raised my eyebrows, trying to imagine sweet, soft, beautiful Bella as a dangerous person. It was hilarious.

"I know. You don't expect it." Alice said when she read my expression and held up a tiny finger. "But believe me, when she's mad…. She's mad." She shook her head and seemed to be lost in horrible memories for moment. I stared. "Anyway, so before we start I just want to clear out a few things."

I nodded curiously and looked at her.

"You asked her out?"

"Yes."

"She said yes?"

"Yes."

"So, you don't have a girlfriend?"

"Um... no."

"Then I was right." Alice smiled, pleased. "Who was the girl at the bar?"

"Jessica." I sighed. "She can't take a no."

"Jessica." Alice groaned and threw a tiny fist on her knee. "Of course! I should have known."

"Yes." I nodded with another sigh.

"But you really like Bella then, right?" She looked suspicious and I realized that she was very protective of her friend. This made me like the pixie even more.

"I do."

"Perfect!" Alice squealed and smiled huge. All her teeth were perfectly white and straight. "Well, this brings us back to the subject…" She sat up straighter and looked serious. "Back to business. What do you need to know?"

I smiled.

"Everything valuable that I _need_ to know _before_… The rest I'd like to… um… you know, find out myself."

Alice nodded, still serious and looked concentrated and thoughtful.

"Well…" she murmured, distracted. "I'll start with things to avoid. First of all; never take her dancing. She falls down _a lot_."

I smiled but nodded and made a mental note that I had to watch out for dancing or other activities in the same area.

"She hates chocolate, because everyone tells her that her eyes look like chocolate… um… she hates rollercoaster's, it makes her sick…. Oh, and don't be a good date and take her shopping… she hates it!"

"Really?" I said, relief coloring my tone. Alice smiled, but didn't comment.

"She's allergic to milk, but usually drinks it anyway…. Um…"

She told me a lot of things about Bella, things that fit all too well into her character. Surprisingly, she was even better and more unusual than I thought.

"So….now you know some more." Alice said slowly when she was done. "You still want to go out with her, right?" she added quickly and looked worried.

"Of course!" I grinned.

We laughed.

**BPOV**

"….ugh!"

I threw the green, terrible dress on the floor – one of the few I owned. Charlie had given it to me for my sixteen birthday; about the time when he stopped knowing what a girl would want.

At the floor were two more dresses – one blue and one in a screaming pink. None of them would fit on a date with Edward Cullen.

When he asked me out I first couldn't believe it. Then I realized that he must be pitying me.

But it didn't matter. If I could spend a day with the most gorgeous guy on earth, It didn't really matter what reasons he had.

The date would be in two hours and I still hadn't found anything to wear. I was, least said, freaking out.

"Argh!" I groaned, frustrated and threw my last dress on the floor when I ripped it from the wardrobe. It was red and had huge dirty spot on the skirt.

Yes, I knew that whatever I wore Edward would look better. He couldn't help it. But I just wanted to look okay! Was it really that much to ask!?

"Knock, knock."

Lifesaver Alice danced into my room with a huge grin on her beautiful face and a gorgeous dress in her hands. I squealed and sighed in relief.

"Brought you a gift." She winked. "You like it?"

I did. It was casual, yet beautiful – short, tight and in a light blue color that made the material flow.

"Thank you!" I hugged her tight and she patted my back while she giggled.

"For once you like what I buy."

"I always like what you buy, Ali-"

I began to remove my clothes so that I could change into the beautiful dress.

"I just don't like when you spend money on me." I finished.

She rolled her eyes and plopped down on my bed.

"Get changed quickly, so that I can do your makeup." Alice told me.

For once I didn't complain about the makeup.

Once I'd gotten dressed I let her play with me until she was satisfied.

I was a little afraid when I was about to look in the mirror, but when I saw myself I realized that it had been ridiculous to be.

I did look good. The hair was in a messy ponytail and my face shined by the foundation, eye shadow and lips gloss.

"Thanks!"

I smiled nervously and felt the butterflies fill my stomach when my head caught up with reality – I was going out with Edward Cullen… I felt sick and my hands shook when I brushed my fingers over the soft material in the dress.

Alice watched me for a moment and looked like she was about to say something, but just smiled and then hugged me.

"You're going to be fine." She mumbled in my ear.

"I know, I just really wish he liked me." I whispered. This would have been awkward to tell someone else, but I knew Alice wouldn't laugh. She understood.

But I thought she sounded avoiding when she replied, mumbling:

"Don't be so sure he doesn't."

We let go off each other.

I didn't know what she meant, so I just sighed with nervousness and concentrated on breathing in and out.

"Pull yourself together." Alice ordered firmly and threw a glance at her wristwatch. "He should be here in a few minutes."

I nodded.

"Alright… alright…." I tried to calm myself.

If the party was hard to prepare myself for, I thought wryly, this was even harder.

We would be alone… just Edward and me.

EPOV

"Eddie, can I be honest with you?"

"Don't call me Eddie."

"It's so cute! But fine…._Edward_, can I be honest with you?"

"I guess."

"You act like a crazy person for the moment."

"Thanks, Em."

"Anytime."

I sighed and wanted desperately to be alone.

"Who invited you in here?" I muttered to my brother irritably.

Emmett grinned.

"No one." He stated simply. "I just really thought the pacing was getting annoying. You can hear you all the way downstairs, you know."

I blushed slightly and turned away from him when he chuckled.

It would be a lie to say that I wasn't nervous to be totally alone with Bella for the first time. Actually, it would be a huge lie.

"I'm just nervous." I mumbled.

"Yes." Emmett nodded seriously. "But I didn't say that I was tired of the nervousness. The _pacing_." He rolled his eyes as if I was an idiot. "Pay attention."

"But I'm pacing because I'm nervous!" I shouted, losing my patience. "Just get out!"

He feigned hurt.

"But _Eddie_-"He grinned when he used his favorite nickname and I grimaced. "I just wanted to help."

"With what? I'm already done and I have to go in a minute." My stomach turned at those words and I gulped nervously. He didn't notice.

"Calming you." Emmett said, his voice adding the _of course_. "It's what brother's do." He grinned as if his statement was ridiculous, but so funny that he had to do it anyway.

I frowned disbelieving at him. If anything, I was less calm than before he got there. Not as nervous maybe, but mad instead.

"Do you have everything ready?" Emmett asked.

"Yes, I think so." I nodded seriously and checked my mental list once again. Everything was done.

It had been hard to order at the day, but my father was nice and very popular – he had contacts.

"Then why are you so nervous?"

"I'm human." I sighed.

"Me too…." Emmett nodded slowly as if he was thinking it through – was he really a human or not? I rolled my eyes and shook my head. He should be in kindergarten.

I had to admit that he had calmed me down with his idiocy. But I was still nervous and when I looked at the time I realized that I should get going.

"Good luck, man. With…everything." Emmett grinned suggestively.

"Ugh. Bye." I groaned and as quickly as I could I left his company.

I couldn't wait to see Bella.

**What did you think? What did you like/not like? **

**Personally I really enjoy the scene between Edward and our own pixie, Alice. Tell me what you liked in the comments!! **

**Thanks for reading,**

**Matti**


	8. The Date pt 1

**Sorry for the long wait, but here it is... chapter 8! **

**EPOV**

Alice opened Bella's door three seconds after I knocked and I was not surprised to see her smiling face there. I smiled nervously back and ran a hand through my hair.

"You look good." Alice assured me and waved me forward. "She's in the bathroom… I'll go get her for you." She winked and closed the front door behind me, before she quickly skipped out of the room.

I gulped and listened carefully.

Alice knocked on a door and then I heard her whisper furiously:

"Come out here now!"

I could not hear Bella's reply, but Alice huffed, irritated and whispered back again:

"You know I will get you out here anyway, Belli."

Pause.

"Fine. I will. But only for a minute…" she said in a low voice.

The pixie came back into the room with an apologetic expression and a small smile.

"Make yourself at home." she told me with a sigh and gestured towards the living room and a green couch.

"Thanks." I croaked and carefully sat down. What was Bella doing?

**BPOV**

My hands clutched the bathtub tightly and I tried to stop my loud breathing. Edward was here. He was in my house, probably in the hall or my living room. I could hear Alice make small talk with him right now, distracting him as I had asked her to… I needed to mentally prepare myself.

The minutes went by and I still felt conflicted. I wanted to go so badly, but all the 'what if's' stopped me. My talent to humiliate myself was huge…. Tripping or saying something ridiculous at this thing would end my life!

I sounded like a little school girl.

"Bella?"

Alice was back at the door, knocking.

"I need more time, Alice." I whispered back.

"No, you're ready. He's ready. I've been ready for all the years you've known him! It's time to act, honey." Alice whispered all this, even lower than before. "Come on, it's time!" She added a little louder.

I sighed, closing my eyes, deciding…

Alright.

My hands pushed away from the tub and I rose to my feet. It was now or never.

When I opened the bathroom door Alice stood right outside and immediately pulled me into a hug.

"What's the worst thing that could happen?" she whispered reassuringly.

I was just about to open my mouth and tell her all the things that could actually go wrong when she interrupted, impatient.

"He's waited for ten minutes already. You're coming with me!" Alice took my hand and used all the surprising strength that she owned and took me with her. We went straight towards the living room.

The back of Edward's head was the first thing I saw, he was sitting on the couch. It was amazing how one person could make me so happy by simply being present. My cheeks naturally turned a brighter color and when he slowly turned around to face us my heart drummed louder in my chest.

He looked gorgeous as usual. When he saw me his lips turned into a dazzling, beautiful smile. The room around him was put into shame.

"Bella." Edward breathed.

I realized that Alice was no longer standing next to me and that she had disappeared upstairs. I mentally reminded myself to kill her and hug her for that later.

"Hi." I blushed and shyly looked at him through my lashes.

**EPOV**

It was hard to form a coherent sentence when she staring at me like that. Bella looked as beautiful as always – breathtaking, truly.

The dress she wore made me think things that my mother would hit me hard for. But it made it itch in my fingers to see her delicate neck, her soft curves under the dress and my absolute favorite part on her – the always so gorgeous eyes. You could drown in them…

We stood there for a while and just stared at each other. Her cheeks were red, but it just added to her charm. The brown, shimmering hair that was pulled back in a ponytail seemed to scream for me to run my fingers through it….

"So… um…" It felt rude to just stare at the girl. She, who must already think I'm crazy, should not be given another reason to think so. "You look beautiful." I couldn't help but tell her this, though it clearly embarrassed her. Her cheeks seemed so warm – I wondered briefly how it would feel to touch those cheeks?

"Um… Thanks." Bella said, almost like a question. Did she think I was lying?

"So, do you want to, um, you know, get going?" I asked carefully. She might, after all, have changed her mind. This whole interaction seemed like a dream or something that Emmett would make up to keep me in a good mood.

"Sure." Bella nodded and gulped nervously.

I fought the urge to take her hand and shoved both hands down my pockets instead.

"Thanks." Bella mumbled when I held the door for her and then she called over her shoulder: "See you later, Ali!" I followed her outside when Alice yelled back:

"Have a good day, you two!"

I was least said surprised when Bella immediately knew which car was mine. There were at least five other cars parked where mine stood and she picked out my silver Volvo at once.

When I playfully asked if she'd been spying on me she blushed so furiously that I almost believed she had.

"No. Of course not… no…" I heard her mumble awkwardly and I regretted joking about it – it clearly made her even more uncomfortable.

I decided that that would be one of my goals tonight; get her to trust me, to be comfortable around me. Why this mattered I did not know, but I couldn't stand the thought of Bella not trusting me.

Once again, I held her door for her and she mumbled a 'thank you' before she stumbled into my car. I already saw what Alice had been talking about – she was obviously very clumsy. This made me chuckle. It was charming.

Eager to join the beautiful girl in my car, I almost ran to my door and hurried to sit down next to her. The warmth from her body warmed my whole side and it made me smile happily. What wouldn't I do to be able to sit like this every day? Maybe take her to school, drive her home…

No, no. I couldn't get lost in stupid fantasies that would never come true. It was childish.

I wanted to hear her voice again.

"So-"I began while I started the engine. "How are you today, Bella?" Her name automatically came out softer than I had intended, but the owner didn't seem to notice.

"Good." she said and today it sounded like she meant it. "How are you?" she added curiously.

"I've never been better." I told her honestly and smiled crookedly at her. Bella gasped and quickly looked away.

I frowned. What was wrong?

"It's nothing." Bella mumbled, still not looking at me, when I asked. Was she bored already?

We raced out of the parking lot and I quickly changed radio station – it was still on Emmett's favorite channel with the terrible hip hop.

"Where are we going?" Bella asked, smiling a smile that should be forbidden by law, when she finally looked back at me. I stared for a moment, but collected myself enough to answer her mysteriously:

"You'll see."

"I don't like surprises." she warned me.

I chuckled.

"Oh, I know. Alice told me."

It took me a second to realize that I had slipped and when I did Bella did too. My hand slapped over my mouth in horror and I watched for her reaction.

"When did she tell you that?" Bella gasped and her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Today. In your living room." I lied quickly and thanked heaven that I was a good liar. She accepted my explanation without further, which made me feel even sicker that I had lied to her.

"Well, she's right. Like I said; I do not like surprises." Bella said and smiled while shaking her head. She seemed lost in memories and I wondered what she was thinking about…

**BPOV**

_Flashback_

_"SURPRISE!!!!" A hundred of voices screamed and dark shadows came into light when they jumped forward from behind the gravestones. _

_My stomach turned in horror. I screamed a high-pitched scream and punched at everything and everyone within reach. _

_It was in the middle of the night – dark – spooky – I was in a graveyard – and now the dead people were alive! _

_"Bella! Bella!" someone's voice shouted and it seemed familiar, but in that moment I couldn't recognize it. _

_I continued to scream and scream and punch at everyone that came close; until something or someone carefully knocked me to the ground. _

_"Calm down, Bella." someone gasped breathlessly. _

_When I realized who it was I immediately stopped screaming. Jasper smiled down at me on the ground. _

_The others came closer too - I stiffened at first - but then I saw, even in the dark, that they were all my friends. Alice shook her head and seemed to fight with a smile. _

_My voice felt hoarse after all the screaming and my fists hurt – I saw a few of my classmates rub their body parts where I had hit them and Jasper massaged his ears because of my girly scream. _

_Awkward. My cheeks turned red._

_"Happy Birthday, Bella." Alice giggled. _

_End of flashback_

I giggled quietly when I remembered that night. It took a while until I felt that Edward's eyes were on me.

"What?" I asked, embarrassed. He looked away, shaking his head with a smile, his eyes frustrated.

"I just keep wishing I could read your mind." Edward said.

This surprised me.

"It's really not that interesting." I told him.

In fact, if he read my mind and knew all the thoughts I had about him he'd run the opposite way.

"I don't believe that." He protested.

I blushed even redder.

When he said things similar to that it made me doubt his reasons for this date a little bit. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but sometimes it actually felt like he didn't think I was that terrible - if that was possible in even some kind of messed up universe…. Maybe…

I smiled, but didn't reply. If he only knew how weird and confused my mind was right now.

We drove in a comfortable silence for a while and I enjoyed the feeling of having him so near me. It felt like a dream – a silly dream that could never come true.

I wondered where he was taking me, but it didn't seem like I could make him tell me. Obviously he hadn't taken Alice's words seriously earlier when she told him I hated surprises. I hoped it was a good surprise….

"It's about fifteen minutes left until we're there." Edward told me suddenly. "Do you want to play 20 questions?" He turned his eyes from the road to put them on me. He smiled. My heart fluttered.

"Okay." I replied breathlessly, probably sounding like the idiot I was.

"Ladies first?" he offered politely.

"Yeah." I nodded and straightened up seriously.

I thought about what I wanted to ask. There was so much I wanted to know about him!

"Um… what do you like to do on your spare time?"

Edward frowned – he seemed to think about how to best phrase himself. I waited patiently to hear about porn magazines, trashing cars or lovers.

His response surprised me more than I could put into words.

"I play the piano." He said uncertainly, as if he doubted this was a good answer. Unbelievable.

I nodded, speechless.

Everything about this guy made me like him even more – the more I got to know the more I liked. How was it possible that people like him existed? He was too good to be true.

"Are you alright?" Edward asked, concerned.

"Yes." I whispered hoarsely and looked deep into his eyes. They were so green…so interesting and calming…

He looked back on the road after a few seconds and I shook my head. _Get a grip!_

"Okay, so next question:" I said, trying to sound like normal – but my breathing was too hard to ever be taken as normal. "Hmmm….. Are you a good student?" I smirked.

Edward smiled and chuckled lightly. It was a beautiful sound.

"Compared to my brother, yes."

"Good boy." I laughed. "Okay, that leads us to my next question: How is Emmett?"

This interested me a lot. Sure, Edward did seem quite irritated the last time I had seen them together, but he must still love him. I wondered if they talked a lot, if they were close…

"He's…. special." Edward grinned and ran his fingers through the already untidy hair. My hand twitched and I caught myself wondering how it would feel like…. _Focus, Bella! _"He looks kind of intimidating-"

"Yeah." I agreed.

"But he's really just a goofball. He needs to be the center of attention _all the time_, loves hip hop and the O.C" Edward rolled his eyes and I laughed, amused. "He also likes the gym, obviously. His favorite sport is 'tease and irritate _Eddie_'." He grimaced at the last word.

I smiled, watching the side of Edward's face that wasn't turned away. It was obvious that, whatever he said, he loved his brother – a lot.

"Well, he seemed nice at the party." I said.

Edward nodded.

I started to feel more at ease now and my cheeks weren't as warm as before. It was so easy and natural to talk to Edward.

"Next question?" he asked and turned to smirk at me.

The next five minutes I continued to ask him questions about himself. 20 questions weren't enough, but he stopped me before I could continue.

"My turn." He chuckled.

"Alright." I said slowly, uncertainly – what could he possibly want to know about me?

"What's your favorite flower?" Edward asked seriously, eyeing my curiously.

"Oh, um…" Did he really want to know that? He seemed honestly curious… "Well, I like roses…"

"Roses…" Edward repeated, as if he was deter minded to remember it. "I thought so." He smiled, pleased.

I blushed and he chuckled.

"And, what do you like to listen to?" Edward asked. "What kind of music?"

"It's different from day to day." I said, shrugging.

"What's your favorite song today?" He pressed, not giving up. I looked at him, curious as to why he was so interested. Our eyes met in an intense glare….

"Today it's 'When You Look Me In The Eyes' with the Jonas Brothers." I blurted out without thinking.

Edward nodded thoughtfully, while my cheeks turned redder than ever, and seemed to consider his next question.

"How many boyfriends have you had?" He looked from the road in front of us to me. Some intense feeling in his eyes told me that this actually did truly interest him… I interested him….

"None." I revealed honestly, while I tried to not pass out because of the strong feeling in my heart.

My answer seemed to shock him.

"Really?" he gasped, his eyes wide. I frowned.

"Yes? Why?"

"It's just… why not?" Edward raised his eyebrows, his eyes still shocked.

"I've never found someone who's right, I suppose." I said slowly. Our eyes were over again trapped in each others.

Edward had to break our glare so that we wouldn't crash.

"Well, I hope you will." He mumbled, almost unloadable.

I almost rolled my eyes and sighed quietly. It felt ridiculous to me that he couldn't see…

I probably already had.

**Again, sorry for the long wait! I hope you all liked it. Chapter 9 is already in works, so it should be done faster than this one! **

**But anyway, what did you think? What did you like/not like? What would you like to happen in the next chapter? Let me know!**

**Thanks so much for reading and being patient! Also thank you so much for your reviews!! They make my day.**

**xoxo Matti **


	9. The Date pt 2

**BPOV**

"Edward…Edward…" I whispered. The pain in my head was indescribable and something red and wet ran along my face. I couldn't feel my left leg.

There was no answer.

"Edward…." I mumbled again, tears mixing with the blood, sweat and dirt on my face.

The dark seemed to close up around me. My brain wasn't working correctly…

Then I remembered! My fingers fumbled with the phone before I could press it hard against my ear.

"Hello?" Alice's voice answered at the second ring. Relief filled my stomach and seemed to clear my head a little.

"Alice…We need help. An accident…." I breathed.

"Bella? Are you alright?" Alice sounded alarmed at my exhausted tone and reacted immediately at my words. "What the hell is going on?"

…………………….

**One hour earlier**

"We're here." Edward told me, smiling brightly when we stopped outside the restaurant. I smiled back at him and was surprised to find him outside my door faster than I could blink. He opened it for me and I resisted taking his hand.

"This place is beautiful." I said honestly and looked around admirably. Edward closed my door and turned to look too.

The restaurant seemed old fashioned and very welcoming.

It almost seemed as if Edward had planned our arrival exactly at this time – because the beautiful surroundings with mountains far away, trees and flowers, the green grass were even more beautiful in the sunset. I stared in awe.

"My dad knows the owner, so we have this place for ourselves tonight." Edward mumbled next to me and I turned to look at him. This place was definitely where he fitted in – his beautiful looks fit in perfectly with the gorgeous background.

I smiled. His words sounded-

"Perfect."

His answering smile was brilliant.

"Shall we go inside?" Edward asked, offering his arm carefully. Without hesitation I took it.

I was prepared for the electric jolt that would come when we touched this time – but that didn't make it less surprising, scary or…. Enjoyable. Edward shuddered too.

When we reached the front door Edward held it for me.

We stepped inside and I looked around curiously. Obviously it was a place for people with much money, but it still looked a lot like a place from the sixties. It smelled amazing, too. I laughed out loud. It was adorable.

"What is it?" Edward smiled.

"It's nothing."

"Good evening, Mr Cullen and Miss...?" A man, the server, dressed in white greeted us at the door.

"Swan." I said quickly.

"Miss Swan. It's a pleasure. We have your table ready, please come with me…"

Edward winked at me and together we followed the server towards a booth in the corner. It looked very cozy and… romantic. Lit candles, homemade bread and menus were already lying, prepared, in the middle of the table.

"Please sit." The server offered gently. "I am Adam Candler…" he spoke while we took our seats – Edward accidently brushed my arm and I shivered in pleasure. "and I will be your server tonight… And yes, I am single." He laughed, while Edward made a quiet gagging sound. I tried to hide my grin.

This Adam must be desperate if he hit on girls when they were obviously on dates… he must be desperate if he hit at someone like me at all…

"I will be back shortly to take your order. Enjoy until then."

"Thank you." I said.

Adam Candler turned and disappeared through a door that said 'Staff Only'.

My eyes found Edward's and we shared a small, quiet laugh at Adam's behavior. Then we cleared our throats and looked at our menus. Everything looked delicious.

"This place must have been so expensive." I said disapprovingly. It felt wrong that Edward had spent money on me – he surely had paid for the table already.

"There was no trouble." Edward smiled that perfect crooked smile that left me breathless. He was so beautiful.

"I don't feel right about it." I breathed, my heart picking up a dangerous speed.

"It's all taken care off. Besides, like I said; my father knows the owner." He said, untroubled, flashed me another grin and continued to read his menu.

"But you still had to pay, right? A lot, I'm sure. I mean, look at this place…"

Edward sighed.

"Bella-"he stared into my eyes hypnotically. "Humor me."

How could I possibly say no? Actually… how could I possibly say anything coherent at all when he stared at me like that?

"O-okay?" I stuttered.

He chuckled and watched me for a second before he went back to the food.

"So, what would you like to eat?" Edward asked and stared, his eyes curious, at me.

"I can't decide." I frowned. There was so much to choose between.

But anything would surely taste good in his company. I couldn't tell him that though…

"Would you like me to give you suggestions? My family and I do eat here now and then." Edward offered and smiled.

Of course they did. Because they belonged at places like this, rich and perfect as they were… My stomach hurt a bit when I was reminded of how different we were. But then again, if I didn't enjoy this moment, considering I knew that our differences would keep him from ever asking me out again, Alice would call me crazy…

Keep it light.

I smiled back at him and nodded eagerly.

"Well, the lasagna is really good… but it usually takes fifteen minutes before it cools down…" He shrugged. "And the chicken salad is delicious. My mother was on a diet a few years ago and she recommended it strongly, so I tried it once…" I pretended to look hurt and it worked. "Not that I think you should be on a diet!" Edward suddenly looked terrified. "Of course not! You look perfect… your body is great…" He slapped his forehead. "Nice going, Cullen." He muttered.

I laughed, but felt guilty for making him so uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry. I was just joking, it's okay." I told him and giggled when I saw that his face had taken a color that I would be proud of.

"Sorry." He mumbled and offered a small smile.

"Don't apologize." I smiled. "But even though I'm not fat-"Edward looked ashamed. "I think I'll have the chicken salad - it sounds great! What are you having?"

"I don't know…" Edward trailed off and stared on his menu. "Maybe the cheese burger? It's really good. Or maybe Emmett's favorite, the pirate pizza…?"

I laughed.

"What was that?"

Edward looked up with a grin.

"The pirate pizza? Its Emmett's favorite. In fact, he made it up. I've never tried it, but it looks disgusting and really unhealthy. He loves fat food."

"Is that why he's so muscled? He works out and then eats a lot." I asked.

"Probably." Edward chuckled. "But he was also born huge, seriously."

Adam came back after a few minutes, grinning goofily, and took our orders. Edward had decided to try Emmett's special pizza. We ordered drinks, two cokes, and then leaned back in our seats to wait for the food.

"I still have four questions left." Edward smiled and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

I pretended to look bored, but doubted I succeeded – I was actually really interested in what more he wanted to know.

"Alright then. Ask away…"

"I want to know more about your childhood." Edward said seriously.

I blinked.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything you want to tell me." Edward's eyes bored into me intensely. I gulped.

"Well, I grew up with my mom and dad here in Forks. I met Alice when we were really small. She's been my best friend ever since." I smiled at the memory of our first meeting when Alice informed me about high heeled shoes and the latest fashion. "That's it, I guess. I'm quite boring." I shrugged.

"I doubt you are." I thought I heard him mumble while he shook his head, but I wasn't sure. "Did you have a happy childhood?" Edward added quietly.

"Yes…For the most part." I said slowly. "My parents loved me. I loved them…. The only problem was-"I sighed. "They didn't love each other."

"Oh." Edward mumbled.

"They got divorced when I was still in kindergarten." I told him.

"I'm sorry." He seemed so sincere that I smiled.

"Thanks. It's no big deal though." I shrugged.

**EPOV**

Sometimes she was a terrible liar. I could see in her eyes how sad she was about her parents' divorce.

I wouldn't press the matter though. So, I smiled and nodded.

"And did you have any pets?" I asked to lighten the mood.

Bella threw her head back and laughed – a sound that warmed my whole chest.

"Yes. But most of them didn't survive that long." She grinned and I couldn't help but smile back. "I killed every pet I ever got. Mom gave up after a while."

I laughed quietly.

We stared at each for a moment and I realized how comfortable it was with her, how warm and happy I felt. It was so easy.

A few minutes went by – I asked my last questions and she replied. She was more interesting than she gave herself credit for. I laughed more than once and smiled at her silliness and kindness.

"Can I ask you one?" Bella said when I was done. I blinked, surprised, and nodded.

"Sure."

She looked down for a moment. Slowly a deep blush spread over her face.

I bit back a groan. What was she thinking!? It was so frustrating not to know what made her this embarrassed.

"You can ask me." I assured her.

Bella looked up again, her face still hot and the two brown eyes searching.

I waited.

Eventually she sighed. Her eyes dropped to the table again when she whispered quickly:

"Why did you try to kiss me before? At your party."

I froze, caught off guard.

"I, um…." I stammered. How to answer her?

"Everything with… um…. Jessica…" Bella said quietly and blushed deeper. "It made me forget about… what happened…. Um, before that…."

What was I supposed to tell her? I liked her. I cared about her. I wanted to taste her lips. That's why. But wouldn't it scare her if I told her that?

"Well, I-"

"Here you go!" Adam was back.

He placed our meals on the table, interrupting whatever I would have said. Bella looked down at her plate, mumbling something like 'it looks great.'

"Thanks." I muttered to Adam. He smiled brightly, wished us a happy meal, winked and walked away.

It was quiet at our table while we started to eat. I didn't know what to say. My stupid response to her question had ruined it.

"So, um-"I began, trying to start some sort of conversation. "do you like the salad?"

"Yeah." Bella nodded, her eyes on the plate. The smile she gave me didn't touch her eyes.

"Good, good." I mumbled, sighing. "Well, about that kiss-thing…."

"I smell gasoline." Bella interrupted, sounding surprised. I looked up confusedly.

Then it happened. A scream of horror reached our ears and someone cried:

"No! No! _No_!"

Bella's eyes were widened in fear and she dropped her fork.

We looked towards the kitchen. Without thinking or knowing why, my hand reached out over the table and hugged Bella's tightly.

Everything then happened really quickly.

BANG!

"Edward!" Bella screamed, before her hand was ripped from mine.

I was flying. My body seemed to weight nothing at all.

I wasn't anything. I felt nothing. I saw only darkness….

**Ohhhh! Cliffy! Haha. I'm mean, I know. **

**Did u like it? Review and tell me!**

**Sorry for the long wait again, but alot has been going on latetly....**

**Thanks for reading! See you all soon again!**

**xoxo Matti**


	10. Confusion

**I was struggling with this chapter... seriously, it was sooo hard to write! So I hope you enjoy!**

**EPOV**

There was something red in front of me… Bella's blushing cheeks! I tried to reach out and touch them - they were so beautiful - but my arms didn't move.

I frowned in frustration. What was the point with a good dream if I couldn't touch her?

Then I heard voices…

"I think he's waking up." A familiar voice said.

"Who?" Another familiar voice replied, sounding confused. Emmett.

A soft smacking sound.

"Edward, of course!"

"Right."

I searched for my eyes… and managed to flutter them open. It was so light. My eyes hurt.

Actually, every part of me hurt.

"Ouch." I muttered.

Slowly my eyes adjusted to the light and I became aware of the two figures hovering over me.

Emmett was grinning, naturally, and Carlisle, my father, looked paler than his doctor clothes.

"Hi." I croaked, confused to why they were both in my room when I was sleeping.

"How are you feeling, son?" Carlisle said seriously and leaned forward to give me a long hug.

I was just about to answer him that I was fine when I realized that I wasn't.

"Ouch." I repeated and wished that I could go back to sleep.

My eyes flicked around the room and I gasped in shock. This was not my room!

"It's alright, son." Carlisle said when the beeping from the monitor got out of control. "You're in the hospital. You've been in an accident."

An accident? I frowned. Then I sat up with a start and coughed roughly while I remembered.

"The restaurant! Gasoline…." I panicked, my voice hoarse. "Why am I here, dad? What happened?"

The monitor beeped worse than ever and my breathing picked up furiously. My mind seemed clouded. "Calm down, Edward." My father ordered firmly, but in a calm and sure voice.

"Dude, you're messed up!" Emmett sighed with a mocking grin. He moved from the bed and went to a chair next to me.

"What happened at the restaurant?" I demanded again.

"The police are investigating it. They haven't been able to get into the building yet." Carlisle told me, while he gently pushed me down against the pillows again. "We don't know yet, but Edward please calm down. You injuries are rather serious and-"

"Give him a chill pill, dad." Emmett suggested, muttering.

"Emmett." Carlisle said patiently and raised his eyebrows seriously at his oldest son. Emmett shrugged and plugged in his Ipod. My dad turned back to me. "You've been here for about an hour and your injuries are, like I said, rather serious. But nothing life threatening, thank god. You're okay." He added with a sigh.

"Where's mom?" I mumbled and tried to breathe steadier.

"She just went home to get some sleep. I promised to call her if anything changed. She's hysteric."

I sighed deeply, but stopped when I realized that it hurt.

"How bad am I exactly?" I croaked.

Carlisle smiled softly and now that my gaze had cleared I saw how tired he looked. He was just about to reply when Emmett spoke up smugly:

"Broken bones, head trauma, something about your lungs… blab la blab…" he added.

"But where's Bella?" I finally whispered. "Is she okay? I need to see here." My stomach hurt at the thought of her being in pain.

Nobody said anything.

I looked up at my father in surprise and found him watching me carefully. Emmett wasn't smiling anymore. He looked wary.

"What's wrong?" My breath picked up again. "She's okay, right? She's fine, isn't she?"

"Edward-"Carlisle began seriously, but I interrupted in a hysteric voice:

"Where's Bella?" I asked, searching Carlisle's face. He grimaced and visibly became paler.

My body turned colder than ice.

"Where is she?" I repeated in a hiss towards my father. But Emmett was the one that replied in a quiet, serious voice:

"They haven't found her yet."

**BPOV**

I was vaguely aware of the heavy, smoky air that filled my lungs. It was so warm in here…Maybe the sun would actually be shining today.

I kept my eyes closed and enjoyed my last minutes in bed…

Any second Charlie would shout from downstairs that he was leaving for work… any second now…

I waited, holding my breath. Listening….

It took a while before I realized that something must be wrong. Charlie always said something before he left. Now that I thought of it, it was unusually quiet. He usually didn't bother being quiet in the mornings.

Did I sleep at Alice's house yesterday? That wasn't likely though. I was pretty sure it was Monday and today was a school day…

But I was not in my room – my room didn't smell smoke or dust – I was not in my bed – my bed was not cold and hard.

I opened my eyes, but all I could see was shadows and a floor I was resting at. How had I ended up here?

Something cold filled my stomach and made my head spin. All the memories crashed down on me.

I remembered getting ready with Alice, sitting in the car with Edward, the restaurant, Adam Candler, smelling gasoline…. A loud BANG, calling Edward's name….Someone had been screaming…

I tried to move and sit up, but my body didn't react. My whole frame shook with fear and confusion.

"Edward…Edward…" I whispered. The pain in my head was blinding and something red and wet ran along my face.

There was no answer.

"Edward…." I mumbled again, tears mixing with the blood, sweat and dirt on my face. Why wasn't he answering?

The dark seemed to close up around me. I wanted to sleep again…. I was so tired…I closed my eyes.

Then I remembered! My fingers shook furiously when I tried to put the phone against my ear. I was still lying on the cold floor on my stomach and I rested my aching head against it with my face down.

"Hello?" Alice's voice answered at the second ring. Relief filled my stomach and seemed to clear my head a little.

"Alice…We need help. An accident…." I breathed.

It was odd how exhausting it was to speak.

"Bella? Are you alright?" Alice sounded alarmed at my exhausted tone and reacted immediately at my words. "What the hell is going on?"

"Something…. I don't… I don't know… the restaurant… gasoline…" I slurred incoherently.

"What are you talking about, Bella? Is everything okay?" Alice shouted in a high pitched voice.

"Alice…. Help…."

"Where are you?!"

I looked around and tried to focus my gaze. Yes, indeed, where was I? When I concentrated, I could tell that I was in a room… but a heavy smoke made it impossible to see more than shadows…

I coughed. My throat was so dry…

"I dunno…" I managed to choke out. "It's warm…and there's smoke…"

"Where's Edward?" Alice breathed. "He must know where you two are. Is he okay?"

"He's gone." I mumbled and another tear made its way down my cheek.

I heard Alice's sharp intake of breath.

"Everything is going to be alright, Bella." Alice told me and she was obviously fighting hard to remain calm. "Just try to remember where Edward took you. What restaurant?"

"Um… I…."

A loud crash made my head snap up and I was automatically on my feet. My body screamed in protest and every limb hurt. I groaned.

"Bella!?" Alice shouted.

"I'm okay…" I whispered, almost like a question. My eyes searched around me, but the heavy smoke was still there and blocked my vision. I coughed again.

Ah, why couldn't my head stop spinning!

Alice sobbed and there was hysteria in her voice now.

"Try to find a way out of where you are!" she instructed me.

Her request was impossible. I couldn't see my hands in front of me – even less a door.

"I can't see anything!" I sobbed and my voice betrayed how scared I was.

There was barely any fresh air left in my lungs at all and my breaths came out in gasps.

My eyes wanted to close… my body wanted to lie down and sleep… just rest for a moment…

"Um… Um…" Alice struggled on the other end and I could tell that she was freaking out just as much as me.

Then something clicked in the phone. Alice's struggling voice was gone.

The line had gone dead.

**EPOV**

"Give him more drugs, dad! Stop him!" Emmett shouted, while he held me down.

Carlisle was also holding a hand on my shoulder and together they managed to stop me from running out of the hospital and save Bella.

"How is it possible that they haven't found her yet!?" I yelled and heard the monitor beep so loud that my ears hurt a bit. Not that it mattered. Not that any of my injuries mattered when Bella could be… when maybe she was…

I gulped and blinked back tears.

"Edward." Carlisle whispered and brushed my hair out of my face. "I'm sure she's alright. They will find her."

"How is it possible…?" I repeated in a pained whisper and leaned back in defeat. "How is it possible…?"

"Bella's strong." Emmett said seriously and seemed to consider if it was safe to let go off me yet. I wasn't sure myself.

"Does her father know? And Alice?" I asked suddenly, surprised myself to why I would ask about the little pixie. But she was Bella's best friend after all…

"Alice Brandon?" Carlisle questioned seriously and nodded. "She spoke to Bella not that long ago, but the line went dead. She's here. Bella's father, Charlie Swan, too." He shook his head. "They could both use some rest – they look like vampires."

I imagined Alice with a pale, lifeless face – worrying sick for her friend.

"Did Bella seem alright when she spoke to her?" I croaked and wiped away something wet in the corner of my eye.

"Yes." Carlisle said.

My heart hurt. I felt strangely empty. If Bella didn't make it, neither would I…

"Please, Bella… please, please, please…" I whispered.

**I'm sorry that this was so short and I'm sorry that it took so long to finish... but, like I said, this was seriously a huge challenge and I still don't know if it was good?? Tell me, plz! Good/bad? Why? What did you like? How would you like me to continue? **

**Thanks, as always, for reading and I really hope you enjoyed! Review!!**

**Matti**


	11. Thank God

**So, I'm so so so so so so so soooooorrrrry that I haven't updated in so long!!! I just haven't been in the mood to write, I didn't really know where I wanted to go with this anymore... But now I have finally written another chapter and it's.... not so bad, I think. **

**But like I said, I'm so sorry for not updating in like forever, and thank you so much for reviewing on the latest chapter and giving me support! It means alot. **

**I hope you enjoy a whole chapter with only EPOV :) **

**EPOV**

"Edward….Edward…." someone was whispering my name.

"Edward…. Edward!" Something hit my head. Hard.

"Ouch!" I complained and my eyes snapped open.

I managed to focus on Emmett's face. He looked serious – that was odd and very, very worrying.

"What are you doing?" I asked him in a hiss, irritated. I hadn't been able to sleep for hours, worrying sick for Bella, and now he woke me up when I finally managed to.

The room was dark and the sky outside, too; I guessed it was late at night. I was still in the hospital and in the same bed.

"I thought you wanted to know…" Emmett began.

"What?" I gasped, my mind focusing immediately. Normally Emmett would bother me whenever he pleased, but now I was injured so he wouldn't wake me up if it wasn't important. And he knew that nothing else was important right now than…

"They found Bella. She's here." He told me, a faint smile touching his lips.

I breathed out in relief and it felt as if I'd been holding my breath until this moment. The world was easier to face when I knew that Bella was still breathing the same air as me.

"Is she okay?" I croaked and felt, to my embarrassment with Emmett in the room, that my eyes began to water.

My brother was actually nice enough to look away when he replied, no longer smiling:

"I don't know, Edward." I noted that he called me Edward and not Eddie. "It looked pretty serious. Dad's taking care of her right now."

My hands clenched and I squeezed my eyes shut. I felt actual physical pain when I knew that she was hurt.

She had to make it. She had to.

"I have to see her." I suddenly said and tried to sit up. Emmett pushed me down again, shaking his head.

He grinned.

"I was assuming you'd say that, but dad told me to hold you in bed. You're fine, but you are supposed to be resting."

I closed my eyes again and tried to steady my breathing.

To distract myself I asked:

"What happened at the restaurant, really?"

I heard the sound of Emmett shrugging.

"It was an accident, the police say. Something caught on fire in the kitchen and apparently there was a lot of gasoline right next to it… So, naturally, it exploded and…. Well, you know the rest."

I sighed and shook my head, wishing that Emmett could hit me hard in the head. This was my fault.

If I hadn't taken Bella to that restaurant, hadn't been so obsessed with the thought of seeing her, then none of this would have happened. Bella wouldn't be hurt…

"God, kill me." I groaned and hid my face under the sheets. Emmett chuckled. He actually _chuckled _in a situation like this. Trust him to find something funny in one of the worst nights of my life.

"Dude, you've got it bad for her, don't you?"

I froze.

"What do you mean?" I knew exactly what he meant. But it was one thing to admit that I had a crush on her, that was acceptable to tell your brother, but it was harder to admit that I really liked the girl… a lot. That was crossing the line.

"Bella." Emmett said, his tone more serious. "You really like her, don't you?"

"I…You…" I began, struggling. "Go and see how she is, please!" I begged at last and looked at him pleadingly.

He must have seen the real desperation in my eyes because he didn't mock me or ask more questions…

Emmett only nodded and disappeared quickly through the door.

I leaned back against the pillows and waited, my heart throbbing. I was more relieved than I could put into words that she was here, that she was actually alive… But would she be completely okay? I could never forgive myself otherwise.

ExBxExBxExB

When Emmett returned about twenty minutes later Carlisle was with him. I sat up completely straight and anxiously tried to read Carlisle's expression. He looked tired, but not sad… that had to be a good sign, right?

Before I could ask Carlisle came up next to me and said:

"She'll be fine."

"Oh, thank god." I breathed and took a deep, calming breath. I hid my face in my hands.

"The reason that the police couldn't find her at first was because Bella was still inside the house. You had managed to get outside." Carlisle told me quietly.

"I had?" I asked, confused. That I couldn't remember.

"Yes." Carlisle said.

"But… how is she?" I asked shakily. "What kind of injuries did she have? Is she awake? Can I see her? When-"

"Chill, Eddie." Emmett told me, grinning. He was back to using my nickname.

Carlisle ignored Emmett and calmly explained:

"Bella's injuries were rather worse than yours. The biggest problem was that her lungs were filled with so much smoke and dust. A few more minutes inside that building and she probably would have-"He interrupted himself and cleared his throat before continuing. "Regardless, like I said, she will be fine. She's resting right now. Her father is with her."

I nodded and noticed that my eyes were wet again.

Carlisle patted my head and looked at me, concerned.

"How are you feeling, son?"

"Fine. Fine." I muttered. "Just take care of Bella, please."

He eyed my for a second, seeming to think hard about something, and then nodded, smiling.

"Of course. You can stay with him, Emmett. I have to go and talk with the police. Your mother should be here soon."

Emmett nodded and replaced Carlisle at my bedside. When Carlisle disappeared again I took another huge breath and felt how the cold, painful feeling in my chest slowly began to dissolve. But it couldn't go away completely before I could see her for myself… See that she was really okay.

"What's up, Eddie?" Emmett asked, grinning but frowning slightly. "Bella is fine, why are you still 'emo Edward'?

I managed to smile when he said 'emo Edward', but then grimaced.

"I don't know what to do, Em."

He looked confused, his head cocked to one side.

"About…?"

I sighed and hesitated before I finally admitted:

"I think I love her."

It felt odd to say it out loud. But it also felt right and as soon as I said it I realized how true it was.

I was in love with Bella Swan.

I loved her.

"Of course you do." Emmett said matter-of-factly, calmly. I stared at him.

"You couldn't have known." I said, still glaring at him. "_I_ didn't even know." I sighed.

"That's why it's so cute!" Emmett squealed, using a light, Barbie voice that sounded a lot like Alice. "You're both so oblivious."

"Both?" I quoted, confused.

"Yes. You and Bella." He said slowly like I was retarded and rolled his eyes.

"That is where my problem is, Em! She could never, ever love me back." I sighed.

It hurt to think like that and it was even worse saying it… But how could I be wrong?

Bella was too good for me.

Emmett sighed dramatically.

"It's not my place to tell you this." He shook his head.

"Like that has ever stopped you before." I pointed out.

"True." Emmett nodded thoughtfully. He thought for a second.

"Em, just spit it out!" I groaned.

"Okay, okay! Calm down." Emmett punched me lightly and rubbed the back of his head. He actually looked… nervous. Wow, I never thought I'd see the day. "Just… maybe…" He sighed, hesitating. "Maybe her feelings are…. a lot…different than you think."

I glared at my brother, completely confused. If I still hadn't been so anxious about seeing Bella and irritated that he couldn't explain what he meant, I would have laughed. It made no sense.

"What are you talking about?" I said.

Emmett shook his head, a teasing expression on his face. That fit him better than the nervous one.

"Oh no, I'm not gonna tell you more than that. Figure it out…. And if you don't, well, I'm sure you can ask Bella about it tomorrow."

My heart jumped at the words 'asking Bella tomorrow' which meant that I probably could see her then. But then I frowned.

"Why can't you just tell me? It would most likely take you fifty seconds, Em. It would spare me a whole night of painful thinking."

"I could tell you." Emmett began, grinning. I nodded, hopeful. "But I won't." he finished and I groaned. It was annoying that he seemed to know something that I didn't about Bella.

"I'm injured! In the hospital." I whined. Emmett only shook his head and started towards the door. He was grinning, teasing.

I shouted after him:

"Emmett, when I get out of this bed you will feel pain, got it? Pain!"

He chuckled and closed the door behind him when he left. The room went completely dark.

I sighed and relaxed my head against the pillow.

My mom would be here soon and dad would probably check on me soon again… I should probably be worried about myself and my injuries, about the other people on the restaurant…

But all I could think about was Bella. Bella, Bella, and Bella.

I wondered what room she was in, if she would feel any pain when she woke up, if she would remember anything from the restaurant, if she was dreaming something right now, when she would be alright enough to leave the hospital.

I think I fell asleep sometime about ten minutes later, but I really couldn't tell any difference. As usual, all my dreams were about the same beautiful, red-cheeked girl.

**What did you think? :) Love/Hate? Why? **

**Again, sorry for not updating in so long... I already know where I want the next chapter to go so it will be ALOT quicker, I promise. Thanks for sticking with me! I love you all! **

**xoxo Tillie **


	12. Waking Up

**Told you the next chapter would be quick ;) Personally I really love this chapter. It was so much fun to write and I really hope you guys enjoy!! Please don't be upset if I've written any of the doctor things wrong... I'm not a doctor, or anything near that, so forgive me :) :) **

**BPOV**

A beeping of a monitor waked me up. It was a steady rhythm, comforting, and it almost lulled me back to sleep.

But I flashed my eyes open, already half aware that I was in the hospital. All the white around me – the walls, the roof, my bed sheets – blinded me for a minute.

The room was silent - apart from the beeping sound from the monitor - and I seemed to be alone. Now and then I heard people walk by outside the room and a few doors open and close.

I lay there a few more minutes, letting my eyes and head adjust. Then the pain kicked in.

It was pretty numb and I assumed that the doctors had given me painkillers, but it was still there. Every part of my body hurt. My lungs were dry and I wanted water.

A few bruises were visible on my chest over the white hospital nightgown. I felt exhausted; every breath seemed to cause me so much effort.

The room seemed even emptier now, so alone…

I began to panic.

"He-hello?" I rasped, my voice only reaching a whispering level. "Hello?"

The door opened quietly and I sighed in relief. A man peeked into the room.

As soon as I saw him, even in my state, I knew who's father he was. I'd forgotten that Edward's dad was a doctor.

"Ah, Isabella." Dr Cullen spoke, smiling warmly. "You're awake."

He stepped into the room and I realized that he looked very much like Edward – only with blond hair and blue, friendly eyes.

This was the first time that I spoke to him. Usually when I visited the hospital (which, believe me, was pretty often) another doctor took care of me. But I immediately liked Dr Cullen.

"How are you feeling?" he asked and walked up to my bedside, smiling down at me. His eyes looked concerned.

"Fine." I managed to croak.

Dr Cullen nodded, chuckling lightly, and went to read in my file.

"You will experience an uncomfortable feeling in your throat for the next few days. It may be a little dry." He said while reading. Then he walked over to my bed again and brought a glass of water to my mouth from the bedside table. I drank thirstily. "You have to drink a lot of water." Dr Cullen said, nodding. "Your throat swallowed a lot of smoke."

I nodded. When the glass was empty he put it away again and smiled softly at me. I was too exhausted to smile back, but at least managed to lift my gaze and look at him.

"Your father went to call work and say that he's taking the day off." Dr Cullen told me. Then he added: "It's Monday, by the way. Monday morning, if you wanted to know."

I nodded again and looked towards the window. The sun was on its way up.

Then I realized that I didn't know…

"How's Edward?" I whispered, terrified for the answer. My stomach clenched.

Dr Cullen smiled, his eyes twinkling.

"Edward is fine. He got away easily." He said.

I breathed out in relief and closed my eyes, thanking god. Then I remembered that I was acting like some kind of worried girlfriend in front of his father and opened them again, trying to act normal.

"How bad am I?" I asked, my voice still whispery. Dr Cullen smiled reassuringly and reached out to carefully touch my shoulder comfortingly. He sighed.

"A few broken bones, a head concussion, bruises and a deep cut on your arm. You lost a lot of blood. But we managed to heal all of that." Then he sighed again. "Your lungs the other hand were in a pretty bad shape… You were in that smoky restaurant a long time. But-"

"But I'll be fine, right?" I interrupted, my eyes widening. "Completely?"

"Yes." Dr Cullen nodded, smiling. "Thankfully, I eventually managed to get all the smoke out and enough fresh air into your lungs. You will be perfectly fine in a few days, Isabella."

I searched his eyes to see if he was hiding the ugly truth like every doctor on TV shows did, but he seemed very truthful.

We were silent for a few seconds, Dr Cullen seemed lost in thought and I, too, had a lot on my mind.

"Well-"Dr Cullen said suddenly, startling me slightly. "I'll let you rest. I will be back in an hour or so to do a check up, but right now you should just sleep." He started towards the door. "Your father will probably be back in a few minutes. Feel better, Isabella."

Dr Cullen sent me a last smile; I managed to actually smile back softly, before he opened the door to the hallway and closed it behind him. Everything was silent and lonely again.

I sighed loudly and groaned quietly when it hurt. My eyelids felt heavy and I knew that they would probably close and I would go back to sleep soon.

My mind wandered randomly for a minute. I thought about how great and perfect mine and Edward's date had been… how gorgeous he'd looked when he smiled, how it had made me happy when he'd laughed…

It hurt to think that it was a once in a lifetime experience and that it had been a pity date from his side, but I couldn't help but think that maybe… maybe he actually liked me a little – as a friend, at least.

Then I thought about the scream we'd heard and the explosion that made it feel like the world disappeared.

My breaths turned into gasps when I remembered how I'd crawled around on the floor. How scared I'd been… how I thought I would die…

I sobbed quietly and felt tears roll down my cheeks. It was ridiculous that I actually felt scared only thinking about it, but the truth had begun to sink in… I'd actually been near death a few hours ago.

"Bells?" A familiar voice said from the door. I hadn't noticed it opening. Charlie stared at me, obviously relieved that I was awake but terrified that I was crying.

I quickly tried to brush my tears away but there was no point – they just kept coming.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked and I saw that his eyes were red. He closed the door behind him and took a few steps up to my bed. His hand was clutching a cup of coffee.

I began to nod, but changed my mind and shook my head instead.

"N-no." I sobbed, unable to control myself. Charlie sighed and knelt down next to me. He hesitated and then bent over me to hug me gently against his chest.

At first it only made it worse. My tears rolled uncontrollably down my face and my sobs got louder. That went on for probably ten minutes.

But, as Charlie held me, I eventually began to calm down. He'd never hugged me this way before and his embrace was very comforting. He smelled some sort of disgusting cologne and fish and… dad. My sobs started to calm down, but the tears still silently made their way from my eyes down my cheeks.

"You're okay, Bella. You're okay." Charlie mumbled against my hair and, to my surprise, I found that his voice sounded very thick.

I nodded against his chest, breathing hard from the exhaustion of crying.

Eventually we let go off each other. Charlie looked a little embarrassed. He wasn't used to being emotional – something that we had in common.

We sat in silence for a while – me lying in the bed and Charlie sitting on the floor. It sounded like I had hiccups.

"Alice just left an hour ago to get some sleep. She said she'll be back later." Charlie said out of nowhere."And your mother will be here tomorrow. She and Phil are in Europe, for the moment."

I guessed that he was trying to make me think about something else.

I nodded, feeling how much I missed my mother.

"Okay."

Another long silence. The tears had slowly stopped coming and my breathing had slowed again. The crying had made me feel better, a little braver, but also even more tired.

Then I heard Charlie take a huge breath, before quickly mumbling:

"I was so worried, Bella."

He sounded like he was admitting a crime. But he sounded truthful.

I looked over at him and saw that he was looking away awkwardly, but that his face was pale and that he had dark shadows beneath his red eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept for a very long time.

"I love you." He muttered.

"I love you too, dad." I mumbled back in a throaty whisper, looking down.

Charlie cleared his throat, standing up.

"Well, I should probably let you sleep, shouldn't I?" he said, his voice higher than normal.

I nodded, smiling softly. He hesitated before he bent down and kissed my forehead softly.

"I'll be right outside in the cafeteria if you need anything." Charlie told me.

"Okay." I managed.

He left with another nod in my direction and opened the door, but not before I could see that his eyes were wet.

Dr Cullen visited me an hour later to do a check-up, like he'd said. He left saying that everything seemed to be healing fine and that my head and lungs were already doing better. I could probably go home in only a few days.

During the day, when I had managed to sleep for a few hours, I realized how boring it was to be in a hospital for so long. And this was only the first day.

I was not allowed to leave my bed on my own. If I needed to go to the bathroom a nurse or someone else had to follow me there.

I couldn't watch TV because of my headache. I'd wanted to try once and had asked Charlie to turn it on for me but it felt like my head would explode.

My eyes hurt when I tried to read and I couldn't concentrate on the words. Dr Cullen said that had to do with my concussion.

The police came to see me at the middle of the day. They told me about the accident on the restaurant and how it had happened.

When they told me that our waiter, Adam, had died because of the explosion I threw up in front of their feet and started to sob. The policemen left shortly after that and Charlie had to calm me down.

Charlie stayed with me most of the time, refusing to go and sleep, and Alice ran into my room at the middle of the day, crying and begging me to forgive her.

"I'm so sorry for not being more helpful on the phone, Bella. I was just so freaked out! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry!"

I calmly tried to tell her that I didn't blame her at all for anything, but she wouldn't listen and attacked me with hugs and tears.

She calmed down enough to help to the bathroom and when I was done she could talk like a normal human being again and asked what exactly had happened after we hung up.

"You don't have to tell me, but…" Alice took a huge breath, her eyes still filled with tears. "But I was so worried, Bella. Thank god you're all right."

Even though I was happy that Charlie and Alice were there I couldn't help but wish for a visit from another special person…

Dr Cullen had told me that Edward was also still in the hospital, but I had yet to see him. I wondered what he was doing, if he was okay.

I missed him, more then I even wanted to admit to myself.

The day passed in a blur. I tried to sleep most of the time and rest like Dr Cullen came to tell me now and then. Whenever I was awake Alice kept me company. Charlie was also there most of the time, but he was mostly quiet, as usual.

I'd waited for Alice to ask about the date the entire day. I actually thought it would be one of the first things she would ask about. But she didn't mention it until it was time for dinner.

The sky outside my window had started to darken. A nurse arrived with a tray of food to my room. When she left Alice leaned forward, her eyes curious, finally asking the question:

"So, how was it? "

She sat at a chair next to my bed, watching me eat my dinner. It hurt swallow, but I was too hungry to notice it that much.

"How was what?" I asked innocently, grimacing when I forgot to chew some of my pasta.

Charlie was getting another cup of coffee, so we were alone. He still hadn't been able to sleep.

"How was the date? You haven't told me anything about, well, before the accident." Alice asked, her eyes apologetic when I flinched at the mention of the accident. It was still a sensitive subject for me.

"Oh." I said, trying to act surprised that she would ask me that. "It was…good."

"Oh, c'mon, Bella! Give me something good to chew on." Alice whined. I carefully swallowed more pasta, before admitting:

"It was wonderful, Alice."

She squealed, thrilled. I smiled, even though my head hurt a little when she made the sound.

"He was so sweet…" I sighed, closing my eyes. When I opened them again Alice was looking at me, confused.

"What?" I asked.

"Why are you making that face?" she asked.

"What face?"

"_That_ one! You look like someone just died…" I raised my eyebrows, sadly thinking about Adam and the others working at the restaurant that were dead, and Alice grimaced. "Sorry, bad example. But you look so sad. You said it went well. What's wrong?"

I shrugged, sighing again.

"I don't know." I told her honestly, almost whispering. "I mean, I knew that Edward only took me out because he felt bad and he pities me. I knew that, so I have no right to feel so sad now when it's over… but-"

"Wait, what?" Alice interrupted me, her eyes huge. "You still believe that?"

I glared at her, completely confused.

"Of course I do." I said, when she didn't say anything.

It was Alice's turn to glare at me. Then she began to giggle, shaking her head.

"Bella, you probably are the most stubborn person I know."

"What are you talking about?" I sighed, not having the energy to try to figure it out. Then I snorted when I remembered: "Is this about that thing you told me about in the bathroom the day Edward cached me in the hallway? About that fate-thing?" I rolled my eyes.

"Yes." Alice said seriously. I laughed carefully, testing what this might to do my head.

"Normally you know things, Alice. It's kind of creepy actually." I said. "But about this you're wrong. Fate would never go against nature like that. Fate would never want me to be with Edward." I sighed, before adding. "Edward would never want to be with me either. I'm surprised he even bothered being nice to me, even if it was just out of pity."

Alice didn't say anything, but I saw her shake her head in the corner of my eye. I continued to eat my food and Alice silently watched, seeming deep in thought. To break the silence I casually asked:

"So, how are things with you and Jasper, really?"

This question brought a huge smile to Alice's face and we went into a serious discussion about how beautiful his hair looked in the sun. She told me that they were going on a date next Saturday. I beamed. Apparently things had gone well at the Cullen's party.

When I'd finished my dinner and the nurse came to get my tray I felt my eyelids go heavy again. Alice stopped mid-sentenced when she noticed this too, smiled, and said that she would go home to get some sleep as well. Tomorrow she had to go to school, but she would stop by after.

She kissed me goodbye and left. Charlie came back, looking as tired as ever, and even though it was obvious he tried to stay awake, he fell asleep after a few minutes in his chair next to the window.

Now when the chair next to my bed was empty I felt incredibly lonely again. I closed my eyes that burned of tiredness, but I couldn't sleep. I couldn't fall asleep with no one at my bedside.

I sighed and tried to find a comfortable position, but my broken leg stopped me from making any big movements alone.

The hospital was so dark at night, so quiet. People walked by outside the closed door now and then, but I didn't hear any voices. All the other patients were asleep.

I hummed quietly to myself, trying to make myself sleep, but it was useless.

It wasn't like I could call Alice and ask if she could sit by my bedside and wait until I fell asleep. I knew she'd do it, but I couldn't ask that of her. And Charlie was so tired, I was happy that he finally could get some sleep…

The time ticked by and I still couldn't sleep. Charlie was snoring lightly in his chair. I tried to concentrate on anything else but the pain that was more obvious now when I didn't have anything else to think about.

I thought about my mom's visit tomorrow…

I thought about how it would be to go home in a few days and sleep in a comfortable bed in your own room…

I thought about, well, naturally, Edward…

_Knock, knock_.

I froze and my eyes flashed to the door.

Another knock that echoed in the silence.

"Um…come in?" I said as loudly as I managed, almost like a question. Who would visit me at night? Okay, it wasn't that late, but Dr Cullen said that the nurse or he wouldn't check on me until the morning…

The door slowly started to open and my body, to my surprise, reacted strangely. It was as if my body knew who it was, ached for whoever it was knocking…

My breathing caught in my throat.

He looked just as gorgeous as ever, his bronze-hair shimmering in the light from the lamp on my nightstand. To my surprise he was wearing his own clothes, jeans and a white button-up. I guessed that was the advantage if you were the son to a doctor.

His eyes met mine carefully and, even though he was standing quite far away, I could see that he looked almost…pained? Concerned? Regretful? Maybe something in between.

I couldn't form any coherent word. He looked so beautiful.

Edward closed the door silently behind him, slowly turning around, taking a huge breath.

"Hi." He said in a soft, velvet whisper.

**Mohahah! I'm so cruel. But the next chapter I'm really excited about, so it probably won't be that long... **

**Anyways, leave a review and tell me what you think about this chapter! Like I said before; I really like this chapter myself, and I hope you did, too. And again; forgive me if I got any of the doctor things wrong... :) I'm not good at that stuff. So, sorry if that's bothering anyone! **

**Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter by the way, I'm sorry that I'm so bad at replying back to you but I really have alot going on with school right now... but I read them all and love you all so much for taking time to read and leave your thoughts! Thank you! **

**Until next time...(very soon)**

**xoxo Tillie**


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